Mikey's truly awful, incredibly sucky, super hella bummer of a day
by Orange4Days
Summary: Michelangelo had never really had a bad day as far as he could remember. Were some days not as awesome? Sure. Did he sometimes have a moody spell? Of course. But a truly awful, incredibly sucky, super hella bummer of a day? Mikey didn't think it was possible. But oh, how the universe loved proving him wrong. (TMNT 2K12, HUMAN!AU)
1. Chapter 1

Michelangelo had never really had a bad day as far as he could remember. Were some days not as awesome? Sure. Did he sometimes have a moody spell? Of course, he was only human after all, and sometimes living with three older brothers-as cool as they were- did that to a kid. But a truly awful, incredibly sucky, super hella bummer of a day? Mikey didn't think it was possible.

But oh, how the universe _loved_ proving him wrong.

And if the universe ever hated Mikey so much as to make him completely miserable for an entire day, it didn't show it until that morning.

Mikey rolled around in his bed, only slightly registering a ringing sound through his pillow as he struggled out of his doziness.

He halfheartedly swatted for his turtle shaped alarm clock, swinging his arm lazily for what seemed like a million times- _almost, once more, so close-_ until his hand slammed on the off button. _There. Nailed it. First try_. He lifted his heavy, seriously bad, bed head, and peered at the culprit of his wakening.

 _Oh, it's only 7:43._ Mikey thought, slamming his head back into his pillow.

Only to bring it right back up a second later as he grabbed at the clock. "7:43! WHY IS IT 7:43? WHO THE HECK SET YOU TO 7:43?"

Without waiting for a response that the little alarm clock would never give, Mikey darted out of bed and reached for the closest sweatshirt and clean pair of jeans he could find before grabbing his backpack and, stuffing what he hoped was loose pieces of his homework and a math book into it, ran out of his bedroom.

How could this have happened? This never happens. It wasn't like Mikey to wake up late. _Ever._ Raph or Donnie, maybe. But _NOT_ Mikey. He always woke up early. And when he didn't, which wasn't often, he always made sure to set his alarm clock for 6:30 just in case. It was early enough so that he wouldn't have to wait in line for the bathroom, he could make breakfast and prepare his lunch, and even squeeze in some morning training. But today, all of that would have to be thrown out the window.

Mikey haphazardly threw on his sweatshirt and somehow managed to pull up his pants without falling- _thank you eight years of ninja training_ \- as he made a mad dash towards the kitchen.

Of course, seeing Donnie's handwritten note on the counter brought some answers to his attention of why no one had bothered to wake him up for school.

- _ **Mikey, left early to walk April to school and to look over her English paper. Sensei is out running errands before the dojo opens, so morning training is canceled. Can you pick up milk and 3 packs of triple A batteries on your way home? Need it for a project. The batteries, not the milk. Thanks. D.**_

It was only then that Mikey remembered his conversation with Leo the night before. Leo had an early student council meeting at his high school and Raph was going to spend the night as Casey's to work on a history project together so he wouldn't have anyone to drive him to school. Mikey groaned loudly.

 _Perfect._ Mikey thought. The one day he wakes up late is the one day no one is home. _Just perfect._

He looked at the timer on the microwave. 7:46. Not enough time to make something to eat on the go. But maybe a quick swig of, "Ahh right, no milk."

Mikey opened the fridge door and shook the empty milk carton. **_need milk_** was written on a postage note in sloppy handwriting that Mikey knew all too well belonged to his hot headed older brother.

"Really? Two of you saw that we needed milk and still didn't take the carton out of the fridge?" Mikey huffed as he slammed the fridge door with the empty milk carton in hand. "Well, at least you live up to the expectation of teenage boys."

 _Whatever. There's no time to act like a Leo. I'll dump it in the trash outside._ Mikey swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the backdoor. He slipped on his sneakers, grabbed his custom made skateboard (courtesy of Raph. It had green flames and space ninjas kicking alien butt while eating pizza. Seriously how cool) and shut the back door behind him.

It was only until he reached the bottom of the steps that he felt the downpour of rain that had lingered nearly all week. He did an immediate 180 turn on his heel and bounded back up the stairs to get his umbrella, only to realize that the door had locked behind him. Mikey searched for his keys frantically, but slumped his forehead on the door when he remembered his key's were hanging on the opposite side of the wall.

 _Ok, it's cool. No worries. Skateboarding with an umbrella is too much work anyway. Think of it as a replacement shower. A really cold and uncomfortable shower._ Mikey sighed as he bolted once more down the stairs, this time taking two at a time, and hopped on his skateboard.

The March air was crisp and cold against his skin as he sped down the dim street, his eyes stinging from the wind and the rain that whipped against his face. Mikey pulled up his hoodie and tightened the strings.

 _Ok. School starts at 8. If it takes me 15 minutes to get to school by car, and that's when the speed demon Raphie is driving, then it will probably take 30 minutes to reach it by an awesome dude like me on an equally awesome skateboard._ Mikey frowned as he passed a building with an electric changing sign that had the time on it. _Lets hope I can make it in 10._

Since Mikey was 14 and still in middle school, it was usually either Leo or Raph that drove him on their way to the high school. On days like today, where everyone was too busy to take him, Mikey would simply skateboard there. Which was no problem. Any skating time was a good time. But that was only if he had woken up at the correct time and headed out early enough before the first bell rang.

Right now, however, he knew that wasn't going to happen unless physics broke and gave him an extra 15 minutes. Maybe Father Time could do him a solid and slow down the clock? How about an alien invasion? Zombie apocalypse? Anything? Mikey could always go for a giant monster attacking the city and hope that it could stall for time.

 _Oh, that'd be cool. Maybe a giant sqid/lobster Godzilla hybrid. That may even cancel school if I'm lucky._

Mikey was too lost in his day dream of fighting monsters to notice the cross sign turn red. And it wasn't until the horn blared loudly beside him that he even noticed the 16 wheeler charge towards him as he skated across the the crosswalk. His ninja instincts were knocked into autopilot as he tried to dodge it, flipping his board as well as himself clear across the other end of the walk way.

He probably would have looked cool, if he hadn't screamed the entire time doing somersaults until his back end collided hard against the traffic light on the opposite side of the street. A skilled "oof" escaped his lungs as he stared unsteadily upside down, only then noticing the semi screech by him so quickly he almost didn't see it go by.

 _If I had been one second late, if I had noticed any later than I did-_

"Are you alright?" A woman yelped, holding a shaky umbrella over him. Her eyes wide with horror of what she had just witnessed. Mikey couldn't spare a second thought to what had just happened.

"What time is it?" Mikey gasped as he rolled onto all fours and scrabbled to gather his backpack and board, which had skidded away from him.

"Um," the woman paused, caught off guard by his urgency before bringing out her phone. "It's about five till 8 o'clock. But are you al-."

"Sewer rats," Mikey cursed loudly as he shouldered his backpack and took off once again down the street, yelling a quick thank you to the lady with the umbrella before turning down a street.

 _Crudcrudcrudcrudcrudcrud **ohhacat** crudcrudcrud._ He only had five minuets left and he wasn't even half way to the school. His heart beat thumped against his chest as he breathed rapidly, pushing with all his might against the pavement as he swerved and jumped around the few people who dared to walk around in the rainy morning.

He felt like a rocket, speeding down the sidewalk and street. Hoping against all odds that a miracle would happen and luck would be on his side. And maybe, just maybe, he'd make it on time.

He didn't. And Mikey blamed it on the mutant monster that never showed up to destroy the city.

He made it to school all right, but not before walking into his math class 18 minutes late, out of breath, completely soaked to the skin with rain and dirty street water, and holding a muddy skateboard in one hand and an empty milk carton in the other.

Why Mikey still had the milk carton was a question lost on him. He had no idea how he had managed to hang on to it without thinking, but there was no going back now as he entered the classroom on shaky legs.

He could only imagine what he looked like, and judging by the class' surprised stares, he probably looked like he did get run over by a semi truck. If his teacher was shocked by his unusual entrance, however, he did a pretty darn good job at hiding it.

"Sorry Mr. Gibson. I'm, um," Mikey paused to catch his breath. Racking his brain around a good and short excuse. "Running a bit late."

A few snickers echoed throughout the classroom as Mr. Gibson raised a bushy eyebrow. "It would appear so. Have a seat Mr. Hamato. We'll talk after class."

Mikey nodded humbly and, ignoring the stares of his classmates and a few of their comments, found his seat next a girl with curly blond hair.

"Mikey! What happened to you?" The blond hissed in a whisper once she was sure Mr. Gibson's attention was back to writing equations on the white board. "You look awful!"

Mikey slumped further into his seat, setting the skateboard and milk carton under him as he dug out his math book and a notebook. Both of which were damp. "Thanks Renet. It really cheers a guy up when the first thing a girl says to him is, 'you look awful'."

He gave a weak attempt at a smile but his friend was not impressed. She raised a worried brow and stared at him with her wide round eyes, as if that would help her see him better. "Seriously Mikey, your rocking the worst bed head I've seen yet, and that's saying something cause I've seen what your hair looks like blow dried. What happened?"

Mikey allowed himself a small chuckle as he flipped over the wet pages to find the spot the rest of the class was on. " I'll take that as a compliment. And let's just say, I've had a rough morning. But I'm ok, so no worries."

He ignored her quizzical look as he rummaged through his bag to find his math homework, which he realized wasn't on the marked page of his math book where he thought he had left it.

"Ok, well at least tell me what happened to your leg, cause it's starting to bleed pretty badly."

That caught Mikey's attention as he shot a glance at both of his legs, only now noticing the sizable rip in his jeans. A large, bloody gash on his right knee was clearly on display as the blood soaked through the already wet pant leg.

Mikey wrapped his brain on how on earth he had gotten such a cut without even feeling it.

 _It must have been when I dodged becoming a ninja pancake._ He had been to busy worrying about being late that he didn't even notice it, but since that didn't end well for him, his full attention was on his leg. Which probably wasn't the best idea, because now it was starting to sting really badly. And he was pretty sure that Mr. Gibson wasn't about to let him interrupt class again to be excused to the bathroom so he could clean it up.

And what was worse, these were his good jeans. The last pair of jeans that didn't have a rip in them. The pair of jeans Leo had gotten him and told him that if so much as a hem was loose, he was gonna kill Mikey.

"I'm so dead," Mikey moaned quietly.

Renet frowned with worry. He _hated_ that look. Sometimes his brothers would give him that look and it always made him feel dumb for getting into a situation worth worrying about. "Um, never mind. I'm fine. Promise. I'll tell you everything at lunch."

Mikey didn't think she believed him that easily, but she turned her attention back to the board, content with the promise of a lunch time story that would probably knock her socks off.

Mikey relaxed a bit, and was about start paying attention as well, when he realized that his math home work wasn't in his bag. He cursed silently in Japanese as he rummaged more fiercely through his bag and then back to his book. No luck in either.

 _Great. First I'm late and now my homework decides to play hooky and the only thing I have to show for it is a bloody knee and a freaking milk jug. Way to stay classy, Mikey._ The freckled face Hamato thought bitterly as he ran a hand through his already messy mass of golden, wet curls. He glared at the milk carton by his feet like it was it's fault he was having all these problem. _You're lucky I care about the Earth or I would have dropped kicked you like a purple dragon ages ago._

He sat like that throughout the rest of the class, silently dreading the bell that would signal the end of the first period. When it came, like everyone around him, Mikey gathered his things and tried to walk out of the class as soon as possible without getting noticed by the teacher. He stopped, however, when a throat cleared and called his name.

"Hamato. A moment if you would."

 _Some ninja. You can't even sneak out of a classroom full of other kids without getting caught. Weak. Minus 50 awesome ninja points._

He noticed Renet stop when his name was called and give him a look, but he shook it off. "Go ahead," he told her, "Tell Ms. Myers that I'm gonna be a bit late to history. I'll catch up with you."

He gave her one of his reassuring smiles, but it must have been a testament to how bad he was feeling because she lingered a bit at the door unsure. After a moment or two, though, she smiled back and left the room. Leaving him all alone to his doom.

 _Here goes nothing._

Mikey turned and gave Mr. Gibson a grin as he took a seat. "Sure teach. What's up?"

"I should be asking you that. Mind telling me why you were late this morning?" Mr. Gibson leaned against his desk and folded his arms over his chest before looking Mikey up and down. "And why your appearance is as it is?"

Mikey played with the milk carton in his hand. "Yeah, I mean, sure. I'd love to. But see the thing is, it's not exactly the most believable story. It's a bit, um, far fetched."

Mr. Gibson blinked. "Michelangelo. I've taught all three of your brothers," he paused to adjust his glasses. "Try me."

Mikey thought for a moment. Surely Mr. Gibson would believe him right? And it wasn't like he hadn't tried to get to school on time. Maybe if Mikey played some major puppy eyes while telling the story, he may even get out of not doing the assignment he'd lost. Just as Mikey had opened his mouth to let the story come tumbling out, another teacher burst into the room, looking exasperated.

"Freddy, you have to,-" the teacher nearly shouted before stopping and resting his eyes on Mikey. "Oh sorry. I didn't know you were with a student. Sorry but we need your help in the staff room."

Mr. Gibson didn't even bat an eye. "Can it wait? I'm in the middle of something."

"Sorry but it's urgent. Someone hacked into the school website again."

"Is it bad?"

"Remember the Jones case?"

"I try not to," Mr. Gibson practically groaned. Mikey couldn't help but wonder if it was **_his_ ** Jones that they were talking about. He wouldn't be surprised if it was.

"Yeah well, you're good at math. Take that and times it by ten."

For a split second, Mr. Gibson raised his eyes in alarm, but quickly hid it as he sat up and steadied his glasses. "Fine, I'll be there in a moment. Tell Dorothy not to touch anything until I get there."

The other teacher nodded solemnly before closing the door, making Mr. Gibson turn his attention back on him. Mikey subconsciously straightened his back the same way he did when his father was about to scold him. "Alright, we'll shelf this discussion for another time. But I expect it not to happen again. Understood?"

Mikey nodded quickly.

"Good. Now head to the nurse's office and get that knee checked. I'll let Ms. Myers know where you are so she won't mark you tardy."

"Thanks sir," Mikey nodded again and sighed with relief as he grabbed his backpack and stood up. _Well, that was easy. 10 awesome ninja points to whoever hacked the school's website and saved his damp butt._ He felt like he had dodged a bullet and that a weight had been somewhat lifted as he walked towards the door. But once again, however, Mr. Gibson called back to him making him stop at the entrance.

"Oh, and before I forget," Mikey turned to face him as the teacher took a stack of papers off his desk and shuffled them neatly in a pile. "You weren't able to hand in homework at the beginning of the class. I'll take it now and I won't mark it down for being late."

Mikey swallowed. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. _It never was._ And once again that heavy weight was thrown onto his shoulders as the bullet rebounded and drove itself deep into his already aching knee.

"Ahh, yeah my homework," Mikey ruffled the hair on the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "See, here's the thing."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thanks to everyone who has supported this! I pretty much got this entire fic figured out and it shouldn't be more than a few more chapters, but I hope you enjoy! More drama and suspense to ensure. Also once I knock this one out, I'll be able to fully focus on "The Final Decision" so please wait patiently! Thank you again to everyone who likes this small short! This ones for you!**_

* * *

After swearing up and down that he'd attend after school study hall all of next week so he wouldn't have to explain to his family why he'd gotten detention and practically begging on his good knee for Mr. Gibson not to call his father about the incident, Mikey dragged himself to his locker feeling more tired then ever.

Now that is was allergy season, kids were already starting to crowd the halls around the nurses office. Whether they were actually sick or just wanting an excuse to leave school early, Mikey didn't know or really care. All he knew for sure was that the one school nurse on staff was too busy with all the other students to really focus any attention on Mikey.

"Ahh, that doesn't look to bad, thankfully. And it doesn't look infected either, which is good," the nurse mused the same way Donnie did when he was only giving Mikey about 30% of his attention. "Just clean it off with this and put this on it and you should be fine until you get home."

She handed him a paper towel, damp with disinfectant and a blue band aid that was only big enough to cover about a fifth of the cut. Mikey shrugged and put the band aid in his pocket before beginning to clean around his knee. It felt like it was burning, and he was a bit alarmed when the wound felt hot compared to his cold skin but he ignored the pain and the pulsing. He did what the nurse said and left the office as fast as he could so as not to take up anymore of her time that she could have been spending on another kid who probably needed her more.

Besides, Mikey was _fine_. Sure the day started out as cruddy as a month old piece of pizza, but that didn't mean he couldn't turn it around. _Throw that piece of pizza in the microwave and nuke it! That always works with leftovers._

He walked over to his locker and quickly put in his combination, hearing the satisfying ' _clink_ ' of the lock always made him feel like he was some sort of spy breaking into a safe full of treasure. Well instead of a safe, it was an old school locker. And instead of treasure, there was only a few of his school books, his gym clothes (that he should probably take home to wash cause they were starting to _really_ stink), a secret stash of chips he kept for emergencies (which was practically empty cause Mikey never really got the ' _emergency_ ' part and would just eat them whenever) and a butt load of hand drawn pictures and family photos on his locker door.

 _Ehh, close enough. This picture of Raph in a Christmas sweater is a treasure all on it's own._

He smiled when he saw the particular family photo during their first Christmas together. Right after they had all been adopted by Master Yoshi. That had always been his favorite one. Not only because it was their first _real_ Christmas, because seriously, what could have been better then getting a dad for Christmas! But also because it was one of the first family pictures _ever_. One of many. And they were all smiling like it was the best day in their entire lives.

Which it practically _was_.

Mikey took a deep breath and shook his head, little water droplets flying from his hair like he was a wet dog. He threw his wet backpack and skateboard into his locker before taking off his wet sweatshirt and hanging it on the hook to dry. He knew it wouldn't be by the time school got out, but it was better than him getting sick by wearing it all day. Besides, he was seriously cold and in _major_ need of warming up and a thick, damp sweatshirt wasn't going to help any.

He brought out his history book and a matching orange binder, looking at the Christmas photo one more time before shutting his locker and heading to his next class.

 _Alright round two, let's try this again._

He noticed once more that he was still holding on to the milk carton, and as _hard_ as it was to part ways with the jug that he had shared most of his morning struggles with- _good riddance you no good piece of plastic_ \- he tossed it behind him towards the recyclables.

 _Day can't get any worse, right?_

"Ow! Who the hell through milk at me?"

 _Welp, Raphie always did say that I was stubbornly optimistic and that I didn't know when to shut up._

Mikey turned around slowly and was about to apologize to whoever he had hit but was immediately greeted by big hands that slammed him against a locker. The sudden impact caught him off guard and momentarily knocked the wind out of him as he struggled to regain his composure. The strong hands gripped the collar of his shirt like iron bars. A horribly familiar voice growled harshly in his ear, making him regret ever thinking today was going to be good.

"Of _course_ it was a Hamato, you looking to start something shorty?" Kevin Daniels threatened in a low voice. The dude was 16 years old and still in 8th grade, being held back twice for disorderly conduct and just plainly being a big fat, meany headed jerk. He was about 200 pounds of raw muscle, stale breathe, over applied Axe cologne and bad attitude. If he wasn't so dumb, he'd probably be the biggest sophomore bully at Mikey's brother's high school. But lucky Mikey, he got two extra years to spend with the creep and four more to look forward to if he graduated with Mikey's 8th grade class.

And even luckier, Daniels had it out for anyone who was related to or even remotely close to Raphael Hamato due to some huge fight they had a few years back. Since then, there had been nothing but fist fights and broken noses between the two and anyone else who stood in their way.

 _Yeah for being Raphael's youngest brother._

"Ugh. No dude. It was an accident. I didn't see you there," Mikey wrestled against the hands that were gripped just a little too tightly on his chest, making it hard to breathe, but to no avail. "Sorry man."

Daniels just stared daggers at Mikey, focusing his eyes like he was trying to think of a better reason to punch Mikey in the nose other then ' _because he could_ '.

"Like hell it was an accident, short stop. Why are you not in class?"

Mikey had to wonder the same thing about Daniels, but confronting a jerk twice as big and thick as you and that had a tendency to punch things that sassed him wasn't a mistake he was going to make.

 _Again._

And certainly not when two of his older brothers had already crossed and burned that bridge.

"I was in the nurses office," Mikey tried lifting up his knee for emphasis, but for some reason it felt like it was nailed to the floor, to heavy to raise. Daniels didn't seem to notice.

"Ahh, is the poor baby not feeling well? Did a little rain water hurt you and now you gotta go home crying to your stupid brothers?" Mikey felt his stomach churn sickly, but he didn't know if it was because of his damp clothes finally getting to him, or because some jerk had the nerve to insult his brothers to his face. "Awww life is so hard for the little baby of the family. Always gotta have dumb ass Raph and the geek/freak duo around to protect you."

It was no secret. Everyone knew Mikey was the youngest of the infamous Hamato clan and he had gotten used to being known as the baby. The term never really bothered him, he _was_ the baby brother after all. But whenever he was called that, there was always a sort of warmth added to it. Like it wasn't just a fact or a simple term to refer to him by. It was a nickname more than a title, and one that was often enough accompanied by a smile and a noogie and a hand ruffling his hair that always made Mikey laugh.

But when Daniels said it? It was none of that. He said it like it was venom, to work it's way into Mikey's self conscious and make him feel worthless compared to his brothers. Like he couldn't take care of himself. Like he hadn't trained to be a kick butt ninja right along side his brothers and for just as long. Like we was more of a burden then a little brother.

And Mikey would admit that he wasn't as competent as his brothers. God knows he wasn't as smart as Donnie, and not as nearly physically strong as Raph. And when it came to concentration and skill, yeah ok, Leo excelled where Mikey didn't. But that didn't make him any less useful when it came to missions. He wasn't just some little kid that his brothers had to drag around and keep out of harms way 24/7. He wasn't a problem that needed to be shouldered and was too much of a pain to deal with.

 _Right?_

"I'm going to ignore what you said about my older brothers, because even a completely blind monkey with bananas shoved up his butt could tell they are the coolest and more awesome people in like, the history of forever, if you forget that I ever graced your head with an empty milk carton that couldn't dent your thick skull even if it was made of solid concrete. So let's leave as mutual people who don't like each other and go our separate ways pretending that we never saw each other today. Because seriously I am having a hella bummer of a day and seeing your face doesn't improve it by much," Mikey rattled off the way he usually did when he was trying to get out of a situation he didn't want to be in. And he _really_ didn't want to be in this one. Because the grip on his shirt was starting to become _really_ uncomfortable and his growing headache was pounding so hard, it made him dizzy.

Daniels, however, wasn't about to ease Mikey's pain as he tightened his grip on Mikey's collar, leaning into him and growling unpleasantly.

"You don't know when to shut up, do you?"

"Funny, my brothers tell me the same thing."

Mikey cracked a small smile, but it was immediately wiped away when Daniels shoved him into the lockers. Hard. His head slammed back in the locker with a loud bang and if Mikey thought he was dizzy before, he was really seeing double then. Which was enough to make him want to throw up. Not necessarily because he was feeling dizzy, just that seeing double of such an ugly mug was enough to make anyone want to gag.

"You think you're so funny, huh pipsqueak?"

"Well someones gotta be. I'm the funny, cute one. That's what people know me by. Just like people know you as the tall, dumb and ugly one."

That earned him another slam into the locker, and if Mikey got out of this one alive, he was gonna have a serious word with the faculty and their lack of being able to hear his head banging against the lockers like a Chinese gong.

"Even at a time like this, when I can easily break you in half, you still feel the need to crack jokes at your own expense. You're really immature, aren't you?"

"Your face is immature."

Mikey knew before he even said it that there was going to be a punch coming, but it still was a surprise when the fist came in contact with his stomach, nearly making him drop to his knees if Daniels wasn't supporting him by the hem of his shirt. The blow itself wasn't much of a surprise, again, he'd expected it.

He just didn't expect it to hurt so much.

Mikey _wasn't_ going to cry, but there was no way he could smother the whimper that escaped his throat as Daniels raised Mikey's head so that he was staring at the gross grin that had etched itself onto the bully's face.

"You know, someone really needs to teach you some manners. What ever happened to respecting your elders."

Mikey almost wanted to spit in disgust. _Did he seriously just go there? Seriously? He wants respect?_

"Dude I was practically raised in a dojo with a martial arts master for a dad. I know respect. And I know that the first thing about respect is that you get it-," Mikey coughed, making sure not to break eye contact as he stared with a violent blue intensity he didn't know he was capable of holding. "When you earn it. So if you think beating me against a locker like a wet towel is gonna earn you anything more then a dirty conscience, then you don't deserve something as precious as respect."

Mikey steeled himself for another punch, but it never came. Instead, the grip on his shirt seemed to lessen as Daniels eye's got dangerously narrow. His grin seemed like a distant memory as Mikey saw the frown carve itself into his face like poison, every word coming out in a venomous hiss.

"You think you've had a bad day already? It's about to get a whole lot worse Hamato," Daniels leaned in close to Mikey, and Mikey backed up so far into the locker he thought he could melt right into it. "You're gonna wish you never left your bed this morning when I'm done with you. Today, after school. You're dead."

With one final shove into the locker, Daniels turned and walked down the end of the hallway and turned a corner, leaving Mikey all alone against the locker.

He stood there for a few more seconds, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding before dropping to his knees. He couldn't remember dropping his binder and book, but as he picked them up, an overwhelming wooziness spread throughout his body violently. He wanted to throw up. Like his body was physically rejecting the thought of Daniels coming after him once school was out.

After what felt like forever, Mikey finally managed to stand back up and make his way to the probably almost over history class, feeling like the biggest loser on the planet.

And really hoping that his eternal flame that other people called optimism would light back up and give him a reason to hope that this day couldn't- _wouldn't_ \- get any worse.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks again for the reviews and kind words people have been sending! This one is kinda short and un-fulfilling, but I promise things pick back up in the next chapter and we get to see just how much Mikey's optimism can hold him together before he finally breaks. Lots of Love until then darling!**_

* * *

"He did _what_?" Renet nearly yelled, sending Mikey's ninja fast reflexes into gear as he quickly clamped his hand over her mouth. They had been half way on their way to the cafeteria when Mikey started explaining the incident with Daniels that had made him more late to history then he meant to be. He wasn't avoiding telling Renet about this morning's misadventures, but he figured the impending death sentence was a little more urgent then simply waking up late.

"Jeez Renet, you wanna try yelling that again? My great grand kids could have heard you and they ain't even born yet!" Mikey hushed her, only half joking. Renet shook off his hand and stared at him in disbelief.

"Mikey, you can't fight him! You just can't! I know your dad trained you to basically be, like, a kung fu master, but he also trained Raph. And Daniels nearly sent your brother to the hospital during one of their fights, and scary enough, I honestly don't think they were even trying that time," Renet explained, her voice every bit squeaky as it was before, but she someone managed to keep her voice level to where only people in the state of New York could hear her.

Mikey shrugged and ran his free hand through his mop of curls. "Trust me, you're preaching to the choir sister. I don't want to fight him any more than you do."

Turning a corner and walking down a flight of steps, Renet sighed loudly. "So, like, what are we going to do? We can't just let you get beat up by the biggest mouth breathing neanderthal this side of the century. Not saying you couldn't take him, you know, being a kung fu master and all, but I don't want you to _have_ to fight him just because you _can_."

Mikey let out a soft chuckle. "Well I wouldn't call myself a kung fu master, but I know what you mean. I can be reckless sometimes," he paused when he noticed Renet raise her eyebrow. "Ok, reckless _most_ of the time. But I'm not stupid enough to get into a fight I know I won't absolutely win in. I have my limits."

Mikey scrunched up his face as a thought occurred to him. "By the way, what do you mean by we? I didn't notice your name on the invite list to the punch party."

Renet rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder against Mikey's, which was funny to him cause he was about a whole two inches shorter than her, so it was mostly her arm that jabbed him. " _Pah-lease_. You think I'm gonna let anything happen to you? If someone messes with you, Pizza breathe, then they mess with me. Um, what's that thing you're always saying? Something like something do?"

Mikey smiled as they turned another corner, swerving around students that were making their way to the crowded cafeteria. "Do like a ninja do?"

"Yeah! Do like a ninja do! And ninja friends look out for one another!" Renet smiled brightly that Mikey couldn't help but mirror.

"Well that's true. But since when have you been a ninja?"

"Come on, I've picked up a few things watching you jump around all the time. I'm as good a ninja as anyone."

"Oh really?" Mikey's skeptical tone made Renet nearly jump in front of him, blocking his path.

"You don't believe me? I'll show you," Renet smiled as she put up her hands in a defensive manner in front of her and, yelling a very classy ' _HIIIIIIYYYYAAAAAAAA_ ', swatted Mikey in the shoulder.

The strike was like being hit with a feather duster, but Mikey feigned pain as he put his hand over his brow dramatically.

"Ahhh, help. I've been wounded. I should have never doubted the Great Renet and her powerful left hook! I'm- I'm going down. Everything is going dark. Tell my comic collection that I love them, and tell Raph that he can have them," Mikey immediately broke out of character, as if the thought terrified him. "Actually, scratch that. Don't give them to Raph. I'd rather be buried with them."

That got a giggle out of Renet and Mikey felt a warmth spread through out his body that melted away any cold that lingered in his bones'. But the feeling left as quickly as it came as he noticed Renet's giggle drain into a sad and worried look.

"Hey Mikey, are you alright?"

Mikey must have looked just as confused as he felt and Renet shook her head, holding up her hands defensively. "I mean, you just seem a little, I don't know like, down. I understand if you're worried about Daniels but like, something seems off. You feeling ok?"

 _Well, I nearly got flattened against pavement, almost got detention, and an impending death is looming over me once school gets out. Not to mention that I feel like there's a jackhammer pounding behind my eyes, but you know, other then that I'm just peachy._

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I think it's just cause I've been sitting in wet underwear all day. I'm good," he tried joking, but he felt that Renet knew he was lying before he quickly tried to change the subject. "Anyway, lets go to lunch. I'm starving."

Right before Mikey led Renet to his locker to grab his lunch, a boy with long dark hair walked up to them, fingers gripped around a mound of papers so tight, they were starting to crinkle.

"Renet! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" His voice shook as he took ragged breaths, like he had been running all around the school. Mikey thought that probably wasn't far from the truth.

"Oh, um, hey Tommy. I was just heading to lunch. Need something?" Renet asked, surprised by his sudden urgent presence and Mikey vaguely recognized the kid as someone from her geology class.

"Renet you need to come with me right now! Remember how I told you that we couldn't trust Conner to do the calculations of the mountain range distance-," was all Mikey cared to hear. It wasn't like he was trying to be rude, but he could tell pretty early on when someone was about to explain something mathematically or scientifically or any other 'cally. And he's lived with Donnie for too long to not know that when a dude starts talking numbers, you might as well zone out cause you're gonna get lost regardless. Every. Single. Time.

He started thinking about how he was going to sneak out of school without running into Daniels when Renet's voice brought him back to reality.

"Are you serious! He was reading the map's upside down?" Renet groaned as she put a hand on her hip and pinched the bridge of her nose. "So all of the calculations are wrong? _All_ of them? You know that project is due tomorrow right? And we still need those calculations to transfer them to the data sheet we have or else the graphs are going to look completely wrong!"

"We're lucky I even went by the library to check up on how he was doing or we would have really been screwed! He's still there now, but we're never going to get this fixed without your help," he said urgently, already turning his body in the direction he had just came from.

Renet frowned and turned towards Mikey. Mikey smiled back. "Hey, I might not be as strong as the Great Renet, but I think I can tackle lunch by myself. You go do you girl."

"Like a ninja do?" She asked sincerely, almost like she was instead asking, _are you sure you're ok_?

Mikey gave her a salute and a genuine Mikey grin. "Like a ninja do."

She rocked on her heels for a few more seconds, as if lingering to soak in whatever warmth Mikey had left, before giving him a smile back and trotting off after Tommy, who was already halfway down the hallway.

Mikey watched her go until she was out of sight before walking over to his locker. Like a spy, he put in the three digit combination, letting himself smile at the small click, and opened it. He absentmindedly reached into his wet backpack before striking his already pounding head against the locker door and groaning loudly. Half in pain, half because he was starting think he was never gonna catch a break.

Why hadn't he remembered? He had completely forgotten to pack a lunch this morning because he was already late. Add that to the _freaking_ list of things Mikey messed up doing today.

 _Alright, don't freak out. You only missed the most important meal of the day, but it's fine. Plan B. You can't go wrong with the snack machines._

Mikey unzipped a small zipper at the top of his backpack and felt around, hearing the familiar jingle of coins -his emergency stash-, only to feel his heart drop as he pulled his hand back out to inspect the loot.

"Two dollars and thirty eight cents," Mikey counted. "Just enough for a bag of chips and a soda. A ninja can do."

And a ninja _was_ about to do it too, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he remembered another critical moment this morning had brought to his attention.

"Wait a minute. We're out of milk and Donnie wanted me to get batteries for his project," Mikey looked down at his hand full of change. _There wasn't enough for both._

Mikey sighed sadly as he poured the change back into the small pocket of his backpack and zipped it close, finalizing his silent decision. _There will be a mutiny if Raph and Leo don't get their morning pancakes two days in a row._ Mikey could make any food taste ok, but pancakes just _didn't_ taste as good or as fluffy without milk. He would apologize to Donnie later about the batteries. Maybe they'd have a sale at the convenient store and he could at least get one pack for him so he wouldn't feel like a total loser of a brother.

Mikey's stomach churned as he grabbed his books and headed down the hall to where his next class would be, not knowing if he felt uneasy about not eating, or because that's where Daniels had landed a solid slug and it still ached with every step he took.

 _It's cool. I'm fine. I wasn't that hungry anyway._

And Mikey almost, _almost_ , believed himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**_So this is a really long chapter, but I didn't want to make it into two short ones and throw off the flow so here it is. *jazz hands* The critical point in Mikey's bad day! Hope you enjoy and thank you for waiting so long! Next chapter we're gonna switch things up a bit and take it from Leo's point of view. Should be interesting to see how he reacts! Also, quick thank you to Chloe the Critic Cat! Thanks for sticking around as long as you have darling! =)_**

* * *

Mikey sighed for what felt like the bajillionith time that day. The rain from this morning had only increased, causing the intense down pour to instantly soak anyone who stood under it longer than two seconds. Mikey had _no_ chance. Especially now that his board was broken.

Which, despite everything, was seriously the _worst_ thing that had happened to him today. Well, not the worst, obviously, but pretty darn close.

All though, to be honest, the world could literally be ending by being sucked into a black hole and Mikey would _still_ consider his broken board the bigger loss.

So his priorities were a little shot. Give him a break. Mikey's had a bad day.

The frigid rain sunk into his clothes, which in turn, clung to his shivering frame. His sweatshirt almost did nothing to protect him from the cold and Mikey knew it would be a miracle if he didn't catch pneumonia by tomorrow. So he did the best he could. The newly bought carton of milk and the buy one get one free battery packets were snug in his back pack, right beside his skateboard that had been neatly broken in half, which left his arms completely free.

So Mikey's arms wrapped around his middle, hugging himself as he trudged through the thick rain fall. It had no effect in bringing Mikey any extra warmth, and a hug from yourself wasn't nearly as comforting as one from any of his brothers, but Mikey made due as he recalled the unfortunate event that led him to walk home in the rain.

He had somehow managed to make it the rest of the school day without any further incident, which in Mikey's case, was already a _major_ plus and worthy of a silent fist bump to the air. He had meant to meet up with Renet once the final bell rang, but a note on his locker let him know that she was going to stay after and finish her science project. A small cartoon head rested at the bottom of page, a winking girl wearing a ninja mask, _seriously, she's really getting into the whole ninja thing_ , with a final message of - _ **Be safe! Text me if anything happens or once you get home.**_

Mikey pocketed the note and sighed. He wasn't out of the woods yet. He still had to make it out of the school grounds without the big bad wolf catching him and eating him. If ever there was a time to put his dad's teaching to use, now was the moment. He had to avoid detection. He couldn't be seen. Hide in plain sight with all the other kids getting out of class and crowding the hallways and exits until he was at least a couple blocks away from the school.

It _shouldn't_ have been hard at all. Mikey did stealth practice missions with his brothers all the time. Granted, _he_ was usually the reason they got caught, and _ok_ have you seen Mikey, not exactly one to be known as quite and not be the center of everyone's attention. Mikey couldn't help it, he just had this natural spark that made people gather around him, good _and_ bad. But the point was, he _was_ getting better. Leo had even said so. And that was good enough for Mikey.

Plus, there was nothing quite like the threat of a painful death that inspired Mikey more to keep his _freaking_ head down and _shut_ _up_.

 _Like a ninja do_. Mikey thought, putting in his combination. Once he got his backpack on, there was literally nothing that could stop him from hightailing it the _heck_ out of there. Not even free pizza could have stopped Mikey from wanting to leave school as badly as he did, which was saying something. ' _Cause hello? Free pizza!_

But that all changed the moment the little metal door was open and Mikey felt the world around him come crashing down.

His locker had been completely trashed. Pages of his school books had been ripped out at random and crammed into any nook and cranny of the small containment. His back pack had been opened and emptied of almost everything inside and dumped out randomly. Pieces of garbage that Mikey knew did not belong to him where stacked on every surface and stuffed into his books and binders. Mikey had to pull an old banana peel out of his English notebook which was _seriously the worst thing_ because now his book was going to smell like rotting bananas for the rest of the school year. _Literally the worst ever._

But as trashed as his locker was, all of those things were fixable. Well, maybe not the smell, but at least he could clean and organize it. It wasn't going to be fun, cleaning rarely was, but at least it was doable.

 _No_. What made Mikey's heart _really_ drop was when he saw his favorite skateboard, a birthday present from Raph, broken neatly in half and all of the pictures on his locker door either ripped of ruined with permanent black marker. Mikey gingerly took one of the Christmas photos in his hands and examined it. It looked like it had been crumbled up like garbage, but a second thought led it to be smoothed out again and tagged with such awful edits that it made Mikey sick to his stomach. Fowl words were written on some of his other family pictures, but the one in his hand read a word that overwhelmed the rest. And because Mikey was a gentlemen and a _decent freaking person_ , he stuffed the picture into his pocket before anyone around him could see what it said, and tried his best to untangle the mess of knots that tightened around his heart.

He knew exactly _who_ had done this. And as much as Mikey didn't want to have anything to do with the jerk, he had to confront him. Because it was one thing to trash his locker. Mikey could live with that. And even though he was incredibly frustrated about his board almost to the point where he was speechless, which never happened _ever_ , it was just a board. A piece of wood, albeit his favorite piece of wood, that he could get fixed.

But the moment Daniels attacked his family? _Oh no. That was declaring war._

And Mikey looked _everywhere_. He looked in the bathrooms, in all the classrooms, the study hall where detention was held. He even managed to clear the library off the list without letting Renet now that he was there and looking for the fight that she had so desperately pleaded with him not to get involved in.

 _Sorry my ninja. But now it's personal._

And it had nothing to do with pride or honor or anything like that. Daniels _hurt_ his family, and yeah, it was only on a photograph, but seeing it that way by the time Daniels was through with it made his message more than clear to Mikey. He thought his family was trash, and should be treated as such. And Mikey couldn't stand it. It made him so mad.

And that _horrified_ Mikey.

Since when did his vision turn red? When did his mind seem to be only focused on making Daniels hurt as much as he did. Mikey had to wonder if this was what Raph felt like when he was angry, and if it was, then Mikey wanted to make sure that his brother never got upset enough to ever feel like this ever again.

'Cause it _sucked_. And it _hurt_. And it made no sense and at the same time made all the sense in the world and Mikey _hated_ this feeling in his gut more than anything else. He just wanted it to end as soon as possible.

But he'd have to wait because it was clear that Daniels had left the school long before Mikey ever had a chance to let off some of his blood boiling steam. And that really frustrated Mikey.

 _Dude comes out of nowhere practically writing my epitaph for my grave, majorly stressing me out all day, and then takes some sick backwards way of revenge and wrecks my stuff? Whatever the quota is for how much a guy can be a loser in one day, Daniels maxed that out ages ago, and has now hit super, mega, ultra loseroso with a fatal case of wimp-titus._

Mikey stomped off down the front steps of the school, ignoring the throbbing pain in his knee by doing so, as he struggled to pull his still damp sweatshirt over his head. He swung his backpack a little too roughly over his shoulder, making it hit his back with enough force to almost knock him over; which would have been easy since the steps of the school were slippery from the constant rainwater that drenched the city for almost a week.

But Mikey _didn't_ care. He was too busy making up creative curses in his head, because Leo would probably have a heart attack if he knew Mikey was ever capable of such profanity, _which is fair since I'm not_ , as he made his way towards the Mini-Mart that was on his way home.

And even though Mikey was angry and tired and his head felt like it was going to explode, the universe still wasn't done with him as it unleashed enough rainwater on top of his head to practically flood New York. Now adding extremely wet and freezing to the list. _Great. Just what I needed._

And maybe it was. Because by the time Mikey had made it to the convenient store, he was cooled down enough to where he wasn't as fuming mad as he was before and settled on majorly annoyed and pathetically bummed out. He walked into the violently bright interior of the store, squinting when he stepped in because he had grown accustomed to the darkness the ink black storm had blanketed over the city all _darn_ week.

Glad to take a break from walking in the rain Mikey pulled his hoodie back down, giving his golden curls a chance to breathe, as he took his time strolling through the aisles. He thumbed through a comic on the stand by the door before walking by the candy section. Forgetting how hungry he was and thankful that no one else was in the store when his stomach let out a growl that rivaled any prehistoric dinosaur, Mikey quickly retrieved a milk carton and scored a BOGO sale on batteries.

He'd _never_ actually thank him, but Mikey was thankful that Daniels didn't open the top zipper of his backpack and send his only redeeming factor of the day across the middle school floor. He had to wonder if Daniels had simply missed it or didn't think it would have mattered much if a few quarters and dimes were missing.

Either way, it was Mikey's win as he secured his goods in his bag and pulled his hood back over his head, braving the stormy weather once more as the cashier let out a quick, " _Thank you for stopping by_!"

The sun was playing a mad game of hide-and-go-seek, making it nearly impossible for Mikey to know what time it was by looking at the sky. He naturally reached inside his jeans to check on his phone, but he had made the discovery earlier that day when he tried to call Leo to pick him up after school that he had left it on the kitchen counter to charge. Leaving himself completely at the mercy of the rain and his own freaking leg that felt like fire as he trudged home.

He guessed it couldn't be any later than four. Leo didn't get home till around 4:30 and Raph usually waited for Donnie to get out of study hall at the library before they both came home at five. Sensei generally had afternoon karate classes to teach in the dojo their home was built over, so he would be none the wiser since he didn't come upstairs till they were over. _Plenty of time to get home before anyone else._

Which was great, because after the day Mikey's had, all he wanted to do was snack on a left over piece of pizza and crash in his bed.

His brothers would be fine left to their own devices for dinner, right? They had to have survived somehow before Mikey was old enough to use the oven, so they could easily fend for themselves for one night. _Hopefully. Probably. Like, 63% sure. Ok, so they could always order out, no big deal._

Besides, Mikey _needed_ a break or his head was going to combust like they did in those old cartoons he and Leo used to watch. _They'll understand. I just really need a break from today._

Unfortunately, as long as Mikey breathed and believed that pizza was the all time cure to any sickness, physical or mental, fate was not going to let that happen.

Mikey came to an abrupt stop when he heard the cry for help coming from an ally way just a few feet ahead of him. He bolted for the opening of the dead end, only stopping at the entrance to see what had made the noise.

A woman, holding a shaky umbrella as a weapon and clutching her purse to her chest, was surrounded by four, really evil looking thugs that were all much larger and taller than Mikey could ever even hope to be.

And these weren't just any thugs. Mikey knew instantly who they were by the matching purple tattoo they all shared on various parts of there exposed bodies.

"P-p-please! Just leave me alone," the woman whimpered. Mikey couldn't see her clearly through the heavy rain, but he guessed by the crack of her voice that she was on the verge of tears. "I- I don't want any trouble. Please! I have no money to give you!"

The four dragons laughed, and something purely evil resonated in the way they stood that made Mikey's blood boil once more.

"Well, then. You're in luck sweet thang. We don't want your money," the tallest of the purple dragons cooed, shifting his weight from one foot to another as he stared at her. "You see, we're supposed to be waiting for someone, but they haven't shown yet and my boys and I are tired of waiting. And we were hoping if you'd be so kind as to, hmm, keep us entertained."

Mikey could almost feel the sinister smile creep on the thug's face, and a chill ran down his spine. One that could never be caused by any amount of cold. The woman backed up as far as she could into the brick wall, the umbrella in her hand shaking so hard Mikey could swear it was alive and threatening to take off far away and leave the woman defenseless.

Mikey wasn't about to let that happen.

"If you do what we say, then no one will get hurt and it'll be all over before you know it," another man said, inching menacingly close to the woman. "If you scream, you die. It's as simple as that, cupcake."

Mikey's heart raced. _Four against one. This isn't good at all. I have to do something, but there's no way I'll be able to take them. Especially in the condition I'm in. I don't even have my 'chucks on me. But she's so scared, I can't just leave her here with these creeps! Maybe I can run and grab the store clerk really quick and-_

Mikey didn't get the chance to finish his thought when one of the dragons grabbed at her. She shrieked and managed to smack him with her umbrella, but that only startled him. And make him really, really angry.

"Big mistake," the man hissed an awful name at the woman, and reached for her again. Mikey didn't have any more time to think. His body just _moved_.

And then everything happened so fast. And then it all slowed down.

The dragon never got the chance to lay a hand on her. Before he knew it, Mikey was already between them, backpack discarded behind a dumpster as he grabbed the mans outreached hand and twisted it the way his sensei taught him too. When the dragon cursed and was bent to Mikey's will, Mikey round housed kicked him with his good leg backwards into the wall on the other side, his head striking into the hard brick with a sick smack as he crumpled to the ground. Clearly unconscious.

"Didn't your mama's ever tell you that's no way to talk to a lady?" Mikey's arms reflexively spread out, covering as much as the woman as he could. " _Go. Run. I'll cover you_ ," he whispered behind him to the woman, giving her as much of an encouraging smile as he could muster.

The woman didn't need any more convincing then that. She immediately ran past him, and when another dragon tried to block her path, Mikey was there, grabbing his attention by kicking him in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him, and momentarily caught him off guard, giving the woman enough time to sprint out of the alley way and down the street, out of harms way and lost in the heavy rain coverage.

Mikey breathed heavily, holding onto his knee. He had accidentally kicked the dragon with his cut up leg, the pressure and force opening up the wound, making it sting almost unbearably.

 _Oh no._ Mikey thought. _This is bad._

The Purple Dragon he had kicked in the chest quickly regained his composure and straightened upward. The two other Purple Dragons, who seemed to have snapped out of there surprised stupor at seeing one of there own easily taken down by some kid ( _even if that kid was awesome at martial arts and beating jerks up_ ), came up on either side of him.

Now that the woman was long gone and no longer in any danger, there was nothing keeping Mikey from doing the same. Before Mikey could turn tail and run, however, one of the thugs had grabbed him by the hood and pulled hard; sending him flying into the brick wall. The sharp impact ripped the breath from Mikey's lungs. He struggled to regain it, but the Purple Dragon that had pulled him was already on him, driving all his weight onto his arm that pressed itself tightly against Mikey's throat. If his goal was to turn Mikey blue from lack of oxygen in under four seconds, he was succeeding. Terrifyingly fast.

 _Ok. This is really, really, bad._

"What do we 'ave 'ere?" The Purple Dragon snarled lowly, his breath billowing out like white smoke in the cold air. "Some punk who thinks 'e's some kinda 'ero?"

Mikey kicked his feet widely, doing anything he could to loosen the iron bar against his throat, but the vandals meaty arm stayed locked in place.

"Not so tough now, are ya? Ya stupid kid," one of the other gang members chimed in, cracking his knuckles so hard, Mikey half expected them to be glow sticks and start lighting up the gloomy alley way. "You're gonna pay for what ya did to my pal ova' there."

Mikey felt his heart lurch in fear as the Dragon holding him against the wall lifted him easily about a foot off the ground, making the fight for air even harder to win. The knuckle cracker took a step forward, and Mikey was about to close his eyes in preparation for the inevitable fist to the face, but the other dragon piped up.

"Wait a minute guys," called the dragon with a purple tattoo coiling up around his neck and ending at his jaw line. He placed a rough hand over Iron Bar's arm, not trying to make the dude stop choking Mikey, but almost like he was trying to get a closer look at him.

"Golden hair, blue eyes, freckles," he listed off obviously, like they were traits he'd never seen before. "He's even wearing an orange sweater. And look, his knee's even all fucked up."

With each listed item, the other dragons eye's followed, and a foul smile grew on all of their faces. _It's like I'm the Christmas present they've been waiting for all year. The Ninja Mikey. Complete with soggy clothes, ripped jeans and a gross looking leg. Accessories include milk jug and broken skate board. Oxygen apparently not_ freaking _included._

"He's the kid. The one the boss' brother described," Tattoo nearly laughed with joy. Iron grip smiled hard enough to hurt as he let Mikey drop to the wet ground. Mikey's legs buckled under him as he fell to his knees, gasping for air greedily.

He didn't get much of a chance for rest though, before Iron grip turned into Iron kick as the Dragons leg drove itself into Mikey's side. Sending him further into the dead end. Mikey cried out in agony, trying to hide the burning sensation that crept up in his eyes as he shut them tightly.

The other two Dragons laughed as all three of the gang members closed in on him, one of them stepping over the still unconscious legs of the fourth. Their poorly illuminated silhouettes loomed over Mikey like nightmares as he struggled to get back on his knees. Coughing, Mikey bit back the bile that was working it's way up and looked towards the thugs. Knowing their smiles where still there even when he couldn't see them through the rain.

One of the Dragon's, Mikey was pretty sure it was Iron Grip, picked him up by the color of his sweatshirt, not much different then when Daniels had done it earlier, ( _what is that, the go to move for big dumb jerks?_ ) till he practically had to stand up on his tippy toes to make sure he wasn't strangled.

"Wha- what are you talking about?" Mikey strained to ask, trying to divert his attention to what they had said earlier instead of the stinging pain that ached through out his body.

"Let's just say, today is your lucky day kid. We got a special take out order on you," the Dragon puffed, "and we intend to deliver."

"Yeah, real lucky. _Yeah_ _me_ ," Mikey choked. Knuckles snorted.

"Don't worry. This will only hurt a lot and will be ova before you know it. You can handle this, right?" He asked, patting Iron Grip on the shoulder, to which IG nodded.

"Make it quick then. This rain is seriously ruining my hair, man. And if I get sick, it's your ass I'm kick'en," Tattoo warned and began walking back to where the fourth guy lay unconscious.

The Dragons acted like Mikey was just another dumb kid who'd go down easily. Just an errand that needed to be taken care of. For all they knew, one more hit to the gut would probably K.O Mikey and they'd be done and out of the rain like that.

What they didn't know was that even though Mikey had the worst migraine of the century and probably couldn't stand straight if they'd let him, Mikey _wasn't_ going down without a fight.

Mikey was nothing if not stubborn. Regrettably so sometimes.

 _Sorry guys. I'm gonna be late for dinner._

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Tattoo," Mikey said, and grabbed a hold of IG's hold on him with both of his hands, using the last bit of strength left to swing his leg up and kick his captor in the face. The Dragon immediately dropped Mikey to the ground once more as he howled in distress, causing both of the other Dragons to come to his aid.

Mikey sturdied himself on his legs as best as he could, backing himself against the alley wall for support. IG recovered quickly and soon all three of the Dragons surrounded him once more, that murderous intent back in their eyes.

"Whose next?" Mikey swayed, trying not to let them know how dizzy he was starting to get.

Before Mikey could even register what happened next, he clearly remembered one of the Dragons letting out a low and awful hiss.

" _You_."

 _It hurts. It hurts a lot. Oh man, oh man, it hurts so bad._ Was all Mikey could think about as the punches kept coming. The first one had hit him in the face, barely missing his nose and landing itself squarely in Mikey's right eye. _That_ he remembered. He was pretty sure he stayed standing, thanks to the wall behind him, but the next one had hit him right in the chest. Knocking the air out of him for what must have been the 100th time that day? After that, however, it was just a blur of white, hot pain. Not really focusing on where the hits and kicks landing and who was dishing them out. Mikey just tried to use what was left of his energy in staying conscious.

And for a moment, Mikey was grateful for the rain. The only victory he'd win against the gangsters was that he had been wet nearly all day and the rain water streaked across his freckled and bruised cheeks like torrents.

Because even after everything that had happened, Mikey _wasn't_ about to give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry his eyes out.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sorry this took so long. I'm not really that happy with this chapter and I've rewritten it over 6 times, but I hope this will do for now. This was the tricky chapter. Next, we're back to Mikey and how he'll face his next challenge. Facing his over protective brothers and seeing them react to Mikey's day. Again, thanks for reading and feel free to leave me a review on what you think or any questions!**_

* * *

Leo knew something was wrong the moment he stumbled in through the back door.

"I'm home," he called out absentmindedly, fighting to get his wet umbrella closed before entering further into the hallway. It wasn't until he managed to hang it up and take off his wet boots that he noticed that no one had answered him back.

"Hello? Anyone home?" He called again, swinging his backpack off his shoulder and setting it on the kitchen counter. Still, no one answered and Leo furrowed his brow before checking his wrist watch.

 _5:23. Weird. Raph and Don should be home by now_. Leo thought, but dismissed it quickly.

Technically, _Leo_ was the late one. He would have been home an hour ago if it weren't for an emergency student council meeting regarding mid terms, so he wasn't in any position to blame people for being late. Especially with the heavy rainfall practically on a mission to drown anyone who dared step outside. That had _definitely_ put him behind schedule.

Leo walked down the hall towards the bedrooms, bringing out his dead cell phone from his jacket pocket. _Last time I let Mikey borrow my charger_. But Leo was glad for the excuse. Now he didn't feel so bad for not texting his brothers about being late before his phone died when they were running late as well.

"Mikey, I need my charger back," Leo knocked on the closed bedroom door of his youngest brother. When he didn't get an immediate response, he knocked again with a little more force. _Does he have his headphones in or something_? "Mikey? I'm coming in."

But when Leo opened the door, the room was dark and silent, which caught him _way_ off guard because Mikey's room was _never_ dark and silent. He flipped on the light switch, sending the room into a blinding illumination. Mikey's room was a mess, _when was it ever not_ , but the empty bed and missing back pack was enough to tell Leo that the freckled face blond wasn't there.

 _Or something_.

Leo scanned the room once more before turning off the light and closing the door. _Ok, really weird. Mikey should have gotten off of school hours ago_. He walked back into the living room, really regretting that his phone wasn't charged.

"Mikey," Leo called once more, looking frantically for any sign that his youngest brother was home, but to no avail. When he got to the counter, however, he noticed a note he missed the first time he had walked through. He scanned it quickly, before placing it down again.

 _Ok, so Mike's running errands_. Leo glanced another look at his watch even when he knew exactly what the time was. _But he should still have been home by now. The quick mart isn't that far away and it's on his way home._

Leo tried not to let the panic set in _just_ yet. He had to be level headed here. _He could be off hanging out with friends. Or, more than likely, he found another stray cat and is trying to figure out how to smuggle it home without anyone noticing._ That has been known to happen on more than one occasion and, annoyingly, was probably the most likely outcome.

And besides, Leo's phone was dead. For all he knew, Mikey could have texted him and let him know exactly where he was so that Leo wouldn't worry.

But that was before Leo noticed the bright green, cell phone case on the opposite side of the counter, next to the microwave.

Then, Leo was thrown into full panic mode.

He strode to his brother's phone in record time and grabbed it in his hands, sliding his thumb across the screen. The fact that there was no new messages or missed calls did nothing to ease Leo's worry as he stared at the pepperoni pizza background.

Mikey _doesn't_ forget his phone. Leo was sure of that as he stared hard at the phone screen, like an answer to where his missing brother was would magically pop up.

Mikey forgets his homework. Mikey forgets to wash the dishes when it's his turn. _Heck_ , Mikey even forgets there's a pizza in the oven until the smoke causes the fire alarms to go off. But Mikey doesn't, _ever_ , forget his phone. He practically had a weird obsession with the thing, always checking it and texting his friends and playing games on it. It was almost a chore to get it out of Mikey's face long enough to have a conversation with him most nights. It never left his side.

But there it was. In Leo's shaking hands.

And Mikey was no where to be found.

 _Calm down Leonardo. Don't overact. He's fine. He's perfectly fine. Relax. Mikey is probably just being Mikey somewhere._ Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember a meditation technique his father had shown him.

 _Somewhere in the city._ _Probably alone._ _Without his phone. I_ _n the pouring rain._ _Having to walk home in the dark where anyone could possibly mug him and-_

Leo's eyes flew open. _Ok, so meditation maybe isn't the best thing at the moment_. Leo tried not to let his alarmingly fast heart beat make him any more nervous than he was. He needed to focus. First things first, he needed to find his other brothers.

And as if on cue, he heard the front door open loudly, the sound of overwhelmingly familiar voices filling the house that should _never_ be quiet.

"There's no way. I'm not believing it for a second!"

"Raph, let it go alread-."

"You cheated!"

"I didn't cheat and you know it. I just used a few calculations and simple physics to make the shot and-."

"Yeah, well then, physics cheated. 'Cause there's no way in hell you were able to make that shot. I couldn't even make that shot, let alone backwards! And I don't think I've ever seen you hold a basket ball in your entire dorky life!"

"You just can't admit that I turned out to be better at a sport than you and you're just a sore-."

"Oh, no Donnie, I'll _freely_ admit that. You're better than me at a _lot_ of things. You're better at being a huge freaking nerd and a pain in my-."

"Leo, are you ok?"

Leo had nearly tripped himself rushing over to the sound of his younger brother's voices in the entrance hallway. His brothers, like himself earlier, were wrestling to get their wet shoes and jackets off at the foot of the door. They were so caught up in their argument that they barely noticed Leo standing there, breathing heavily and eyes wide with panic, until Donnie had looked up from hanging his shut umbrella.

"You're white as a sheet. Did something happen?"

Leo's eyes scanned them hungrily, not yet meeting the two pairs of eyes that were now on him.

"Mikey's not with you?" Leo asked, knowing the answer but hoping against hope that he was wrong.

"Uh, no?" Raph shrugged, walking past Leo into the main living area and putting his bag on the kitchen counter alongside Leo's, before opening the fridge. "Should he be?"

Before Leo could answer, Donnie walked past him, interrupting as he made his way towards the bedrooms. "Have you checked his room? He's probably listening to his music on full blast like usual. I hope he managed to get the batteries I asked for. I've been wanting to finish up one of my projects this week."

"Did you tell him to get milk? Because I don't see it in here," Raph yelled, bringing his head out of the fridge. He grabbed a soda from the top shelf before slamming the door shut and flicking off the soda tab while Donnie yelled back.

"Of course I did, Raph. Unlike you, I make an effort to let others know when we need groceries instead of waiting for someone else to-."

"I can't find Mikey!"

Leo was short from practically screaming out his panic, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. The littlest of the Hamatos was no where to be found and all his brothers could do was argue about errands.

Raph immediately lowered the can of soda from his lips as he narrowed his eyes. Their leaf like features instantly turning a sharp, radioactive green. "What do you _mean_ you can't _find_ Mikey?"

"I mean exactly that. I can't find him. He's not in his room and as far as I can tell, he's still not home yet," Leo explained, trying not to let the fear be heard in his voice. "I don't know where he is."

Leo could hear a door being opened from the hallway behind him, and he could only imagine Donnie was peeking into the lost Hamato's bedroom for verification. Raph however, didn't seem as worried as he should be.

The cropped, red head raised a brow. "This is Mikey we're talking about. Mikey doesn't just, disappear. Are you sure he didn't just, I don't know, wander off somewhere?" He shrugged. Leo shook his head, agitated.

"No. Not when it's raining cats and dogs outside. Mikey has more common sense than that," Leo held up the green phone case he had forgotten he was holding until then. "And definitely not without his phone on him."

The moment Raph laid eyes on the cell phone, his whole body tensed as he put down the soda can roughly and raced past Leo towards the door. Before Leo could stop him, however, Donnie was right next to him, his face a cross between confusion and worry as he grabbed the phone from Leo's hand.

"Mikey never leaves his phone behind. Do you think he forgot it this morning?" Donnie asked, and Leo really wished he had an answer.

"I don't know Don. But I don't think he's been home since this morning. And I didn't see his backpack in his room when I checked it earlier."

"His deck is gone," Raph reported as he walked back into the kitchen, stopping at the island.

"His what?" Donnie asked, not looking up from Mikey's phone as he began typing frantically.

"His skateboard. The one I got him for his birthday," he answered shortly. He took a deep breath before looking back at Donnie. "Did he say anything about not coming home this morn'en, D? Did he tell you anything?"

Donnie finally looked up from the phone, eyes wide. "I-I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Raph squinted daggers at Donnie, and Leo could feel Raph's anger begin to grow. A boiling sensation coming from his clenched fists. "Didn't you see him off to school?"

Donnie stuttered, "I- I wasn't. No. I left early this morning to walk April to school. I haven't seen him since last night."

Raph scowled, but more at the phone in Donnie's hand rather than at the brunette himself. "Well that make's two of us. Three since Leo had his meeting to go to."

Leo felt his stomach drop at Raph's words. A feeling of dread washing over him.

" _Great_ , so how do we know he even went to school? He could be half way to Jersey, for all we know!"

 _Mikey's missing._

"That's ridiculous Raph. Why would Mikey go to Jersey?"

"I'm not actually saying he went to Jersey, lame brain! I'm saying the kid could be anywhere."

 _Mikey's Missing._

"Not anywhere Raph. He has to be somewhere in the city. Where else would Mikey go? Mikey wouldn't just- just run away like this."

"Don't say shit like that D. He didn't run away. I mean- he- he couldn't have. What the hell would he be running away from? Us?"

 _Mikey Is MISSING._

Leo slammed his hands on the counter top, making his brothers jump in surprise, stopping them from continuing their argument. "We need to find him," Leo decided firmly, something acidic and painful swirling inside him with each passing second he stood there doing nothing.

Raph scoffed at him, throwing his hands into the air. "No shit Sherlock. Lead the way," Raph turned on his heel and began walking to the door, but Leo caught his arm before he passed, stopping him.

"Wait a minute. We don't even know where to begin looking. We can't just charge blindly into a storm," Leo pointed out, but it didn't seem to sink in with Raph.

"And why the hell not?"

"Because who would it help Raph? Sensei texted me earlier that since the storm was so bad, he canceled class today and went out to go get supplies in case of a power outage. How do you think he'd feel if he suddenly came home to an empty house with all four of his boys missing during one of the biggest storms New York has seen in a 100 years," Leo tried not to raise his voice, he really did, but it was hard when he _so_ wanted to do exactly that. He'd run out in the worst storm of the century, barefoot if he had to, if it meant finding his brother and bringing him home as soon as possible.

"Well we can't just leave him out there on his own," Raph yelled back, shaking off Leo's grip and not succeeding. "He's just a 14 year old kid. He could be lost or hurt or-," he stopped himself short when his voice began to crack, clenching his fists so tightly, they were starting to turn white. "Or worse, Leo."

 _How could I have let this happen? How had it been so easy to let this happen?_

Leo was supposed to be the responsible one. _He_ was the leader of their little ninja crew. But more importantly, _he_ was the oldest brother. It was _his_ responsibility to watch over his brothers and make sure they were ok. _His_ responsibility to make sure they were safe and sound and not in harms way. The fearless and over protective big brother who always had a plan and a level head on his shoulders.

And yet, his littlest brother was missing and the rest of his brothers were almost just as lost with anger and worry.

And stupid big brother Leo didn't have a clue where to begin looking. And it made him _sick_.

Once again Raph tried to shake away from Leo's hand, but Leo knew how strong Raph was. If he really wanted to tear Leo's hand away, then he would have done it _easily_.

"So _forgive_ me if I don't want to wait around for a fucking, 'we're sorry to inform you' call."

Leo felt his stomach churn. He _had_ to be the leader. He _had_ to be level headed. And for his brother's sake, as well as his own, he _had_ to stay calm and keep things together. He'd use as much duct tape as it took, if it meant making sure his family didn't break.

But Leo wanted to scream. He wanted to stomp right out of the house and tear across the streets of New York looking for his baby brother. He wanted to do exactly what Raph was trying to do and he would _destroy_ anyone that dared stop him from trying.

This wasn't the first time Leo was pulled into too many directions because of his conflicted feelings, and as long as he was a big brother, he knew it wouldn't be the last. But one thing was for certain.

Their baby brother was missing.

And Leo and his brothers weren't ever going to rest until their little freckled faced blond was in their arms again.

"It's never going to come to that, Raph," Leo was so sure, it hurt. And he tried to convey every bit of his determination with his eyes, hoping that Raph knew it too. " _Ever_."

"He's not as Murakami's."

Both Leo and Raph turned their heads, their conversation all but forgotten when they heard their other little brother speak up.

"What?" Raph growled, but more out of confusion than anger.

Donnie's fingers were now flying across Mikey's phone screen, not meeting his brothers eyes as his own stared widely at the devise in his hands. "I texted Leatherhead to see if Mikey was with him. Apparently LH hasn't talked to Mikey since yesterday morning. He's at Murakami's right now for dinner and he asked Mr. Murakami if he'd heard him come in or knew anything. Mikey isn't at his store. Hasn't been all day," Donnie explained, only then putting down the phone to look at his older brothers. His face was worn with worry, but there was a new found fire behind his warm brown eyes, and Leo could have sworn that it almost made them look red.

"We may not know where Mikey is, but we can certainly narrow down the possibilities by knowing where he isn't," Donnie finished. And that was all it took for a surge of hope to swell in Leo's chest. _Leave it to Donnie to always be able to find the answers. Even when Raph and I are butting heads trying to figure out what to do, Donnie's always two steps ahead._ Right now, their family was broken, but thanks to Donnie, they had a way to fix it.

"Nice going Don," Leo said, walking over to Donnie side, placing a hand on his shoulder as he stared at the phone in his hands. "So where else does that leave?"

Raph was already pulling out his own phone as Donnie explained. "It's only logical to check out Mikey's favorite places. Joe's Pizzeria and Arcade and the skate park next to the mall, for starters. We should also try to contact Mikey's school friends to see if any of them now where he could be."

"I'll call Case and April. If they don't know where the kid is, then they can certainly help look for him. They may even have some of their own ideas of where he could be," Raph shared, already dialing a number into his cell.

"Good idea Raph," Leo said, plugging his own phone into the charger left on the counter. "I'm going to call sensei and tell him what's going on and see if he can look for Mikey on his way home. He may see something, and plus he has the car so it'll be easy for him to pick him up if he does."

In about the same time it took Leo to plug in his phone and turn it on, Donnie had already retrieved his laptop from his room and had it set up on the kitchen counter, typing in furiously to google maps to get a solid map of the city. "Guy's, I know it's raining like Noah's ark outside, but we have to consider one important fact about Mikey," Donnie said, eyes glued to the laptop screen.

"What D?" Leo asked since Raph was busy cursing something about April and Casey being down in the subway and bad connection because of the storm. Donnie turned around for a split second, giving Leo a dead even stare.

"Mikey's a trained ninja, like the rest of us. So we have to take into consideration how easy it is for him to be on top of some skyscraper right now, regardless of rain."

Leo nodded, having the same thought. "I'll tell Sensei that will be gearing up. If Mikey's out there somewhere, we'll find him. Be it on the streets or on a roof top," Leo said, nodding at Raph who had given up trying to call them and was now staring at Don and Leo expectantly. "We _will_ find him.

Donnie only turned his head back towards his laptop, brow furrowed in concentration as Raph nodded back. "You're damn right we will."

And just as Leo was about to open up the call app on his phone, bent on his newest mission of finding his little brother, he heard the back door open.

Within a second, all three of the brothers were crowded in the hallway, and Leo couldn't help but gasp as he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw at the entrance of their home.

 _Mikey_. His baby brother. Standing in the doorway. Safe and home and not missing in the _slightest_. And Leo would have pounced on him right then and there and give him one of the biggest and tightest hugs that surely would have broken any world record _easily_.

If it weren't for the fact that Mikey looked like he would fall to pieces at the slightest touch.

Mikey stood there, soaking wet and dirty beyond belief. In seconds, a pool of muddy water had already formed at his feet as it dripped of his drenched body. His backpack hung limply in Mikey's hand as he dropped it to the floor with a heavy _thump._ Mikey's sweatshirt was yellow, but you couldn't tell by all the dirt and grime that was smeared on it, like he had somehow found a dirt pile in the middle of the city and rolled around in it for hours.

But Leo wasn't paying attention to any of that. He was more concerned with the big black bruise that enveloped around Mikey's right eye and down his cheek. As well as his cut lip and the scratch marks on his hands and- _Oh God, is that blood on his knee._

None of the brother's moved from where they stood at the opposite end of the hallway as they stared at Mikey. Mikey in turn, stared right back at them.

And then he did something that made Leo's heart burst with warmth. He smiled.

Or, at least, tried to smile. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head, as if ready to smile like he usually did, but what appeared on his lips was anything but a grin. The edges of his mouth didn't reach that far, however, as if it were almost to painful to smile.

And that killed Leo.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late," Mikey's voice broke, and Leo knew instantly that he had been crying. And as if on cue, he saw new tears streaks make their way down his cheeks, making Leo's stomach do flips with rage.

"I- I had a bad day."


	6. Chapter 6 part 1

How long had he been in the shower? 30 minutes? An hour? Mikey didn't really know or care to find out. As far as he was concerned, he'd need to stay in the shower for another day or two before he would start to feel warm again. The shower was _much_ needed.

The first thing he did was wash all of the grime and dirt that had caked itself onto his hands and face. Then, very tentatively, he tried to scrub away the dried blood off his hands and knees. It hurt. It hurt a whole _heck-ova-lot_. But it was the kind of pain Mikey could deal with. Like putting Iodine on a cut. It stung, but Donnie had explained to him ages ago that the sting meant that the good things in the cleaning solution were fighting away the bad things in the cut. If it meant that it was going to heal, then that was good enough an explanation for Mikey.

But that had been a forgotten amount of time ago, and Mikey soon found himself lost in his thoughts, standing motionless under the shower head. Water pooled over him. Cascading over his head and down his shoulders and onto the rest of his body. Mikey didn't bother moving. Almost like he couldn't. Despite how hot the water was running, it made him frozen in place. His body shivered despite the water being broiling enough to create steam thicker than pea soup.

Mikey frowned at the thought. _Was pea soup thick?_ Heck if he knew. He'd never eaten it before. But he was too tired and miserable to think of a more relevant and _totally-not-outdated_ metaphor.

Besides, Mikey couldn't help it. He had been wet and freezing the entire day, so cut him some slack if he decided to take some ' _me'_ time to thaw himself out of the cold that clung to him. And the hot water just felt _SO GOOD_ against his skin. Which was saying something, because Mikey felt like _hell_ everywhere else.

He leaned his head against the warm tiled wall of the shower, a migraine thumping painfully behind his closed eyes. _Probably look like hell too, judging by the way everyone looked at me when I got home._ Mikey winced at the memory.

* * *

He could practically hear their shouts from the street. The lights in the bottom half of the dojo were all out, so sensei must have closed shop early. Either that, or it was later then Mikey thought it was. That would explain all the yelling coming from the second floor.

 _Oh man. They're probably SO mad. Leo's gonna kill me when he finds out I forgot my phone, which was seriously NOT cool of me._ Mikey trudged by the side of the building, making his way to the steps at the back of the house. _And that's only if Donnie doesn't get to me first about the batteries and the milk._

Gingerly and very, _very_ slowly, Mikey made his way up the back stairs, each step was almost more painful then the last. _Oh gosh. I don't even want to think about what Raphie will do when he finds out about my board. I'm so dead._

Once Mikey had reached the top step, he leaned his forehead on the door. He couldn't make out what they were saying, their voices were too muffled, and Mikey's head hurt to much to pay attention. But the youngest could recognize his brothers voices anywhere as he felt the reverberations against the door. He could barely think, his head and body ached too much for him to figure out a game plan.

 _I shouldn't make them wait any longer. They're probably bouncing off the walls wondering where I am. Oh man, they're gonna kill me._ Mikey thought for the thousandth time as he reached for the door nob and turned it. _Or worse. I'll be grounded for the rest of my ninja life._

As soon as he opened the door, light and warmth enveloped around him and drew him in out of the dark and stormy night. He closed the door as quietly as he could and dropped his bag next to the shoe box, but it was no use, all three of his brothers were there in an instant. Standing in the entry hallway and staring at him with wide eyes. What did he expect? He was raised in a family full of super ninjas. Mikey would have been surprised if they _didn't_ hear him.

But _oh gosh_ , he certainly wasn't expecting them to look at him like they did.

Raph had his mouth hanging slightly open, and was gripping his phone so tight, Mikey was glad the thing wasn't alive or it would have been squeezed to death in _seconds._ He looked like he wanted to say something, and Mikey wished he did. Yell, scream, say _anything._ A shouted insult from Raph would have been a hundred times better than the silence he was being given.

Donnie's eyes were wide and un-moving, which really scared Mikey, because Donnie had a habit of constantly moving around and scanning things. His brown eyes, ( _why do they almost look red?)_ were always looking around for more information to absorb and _dang it Donnie, blink already! You're creeping me out!_

And then there was Leo. The _look_ he was giving Mikey. The sheer fear and worry was written all over his face. His strong blue eyes looked almost on the verge of breaking. They should _never_ look like that.

But they did. And Mikey was the cause of it.

And that _killed_ Mikey, just like he thought it would.

And just like he hoped it wouldn't.

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm late," Mikey startled himself at his own voice cracking. _Did I always sound this pathetic? Get a hold of yourself dude! Ninja up!_

He had to ease the situation. Make sure his brothers would stop looking at him like he was some freak that had walked in randomly off the street. Needed to lighten the mood. Crack a joke. Bake a laugh. Play a prank.

Make them smile or angry or annoyed or just _plain anything would do!_ _Anything_ to get his brothers to stop looking like they would shatter any moment.

 _When did my big bro's start looking so fragile?_

He needed to bring them back to full strength.

And for all of Mikey's worth, he _really_ did try to smile. He honestly truly did. He wanted to show that he was ok and that everything was fine. But he was pretty sure his grin was nothing short of a scowl the way his brothers reacted.

And then he met Leo's eyes.

 _Big mistake._

Their intensity unraveled something inside of Mikey the moment they connected and something just _broke._ He felt his chest heave as a sob escaped his throat. Before he could stop himself, _stupid,_ big baby, crocodile tears rolled out of Mikey's swollen eyes almost shamefully as he lifted his arm's up. His voice sounding foreign to him as he squeaked out a truth that he had been wanting to admit all day.

"I-I had a bad day."

And before Mikey could even blink, Leo was right in front of him, filling the empty space between Mikey's raised arms and wrapping him in a hug that Mikey didn't know he _so_ needed until then. Mikey didn't hesitate to bury himself against his big brothers chest, squeezing as hard as he could, afraid that if he let go for even a second, he'd never be able to get him back again.

And Mikey was _not_ about to risk that.

Leo didn't seem to mind how wet Mikey was as he hugged him back, _tightly_ , and rested his chin on the top of Mikey's head. His hands smoothed out the wet wrinkles on Mikey's back, and the soothing _lub lub_ of his chest caused Mikey to sob even harder. His voice acting like a solid life line for Mikey to grab onto.

"Shhhh, it's ok Mikey. It's ok. You're home. You're safe," Leo cooed and Mikey sniffed loudly, causing Leo's arms to wrap around him even tighter. "I've got you. Shhhhhh. I've got you."

Mikey knew, could feel their heavy breathing, that Donnie and Raph were just behind them in the hallway. Their eyes solidly on Leo's back as Mikey's shivering hands found the folds of his older brother's shirt and clung on tightly.

And Mikey _was_ going to make sure they got their hugs in as well. It was inevitable. Hugs were just a given when it came to Mikey and he'd be _darned_ if he was about to let them get away without one.

But right then, Mikey just needed the strong arms of his oldest brother around him. To steady him. To calm him. To chase away all the cold and fear that had sunk so low into Mikey's core that he was starting to forget what being warm and safe felt like.

Plus, he didn't want Raph or Donnie to know just how hard he was shaking.

Seconds flew by, Mikey knew it couldn't have been more than a minute, but all sense of time was lost as they stood there. Just trying to immerse themselves in each other's presence as much as possible. However, it was Raph that finally brought them back to the point at hand. Crossing his arms and scowling deeply as he asked the question that Mikey had hoped wouldn't be the first thing that they would ask.

On the way home, he had silently declared that no mater what, he wouldn't answer fully and tell them the whole truth. Half because his pain wasn't worth worrying his brothers over, and half because he knew that if he re-lived the events of the rest of the day, he'd lose his mind.

"What happened?"

* * *

 _Two freaking words. That's all it took, and I caved like a kid admitting he stole a cookie from the cookie jar._ Mikey banged his head softly on the tile, but quickly regretted it when the action made him dizzy.

Oh no. He hadn't just skimmed over little parts of the day. Gave them a basic summary and told them that the book wasn't worth reading. _No._ Mikey told them _EVERYTHING_ _._ Every detail. Every aspect. Every horrible little thing that had happened to him from the moment he had woke up to the moment he entered through the back door of their home.

Waking up late. The near death experience with the truck. The _almost_ detention. The second near death experience with Daniels. Skipping lunch. The wrecked locker. The third near death experience, _which is seriously to many times in one single day to_ almost _die,_ with the purple dragons jerks. _EVERY-FREAKING-THING._

He couldn't stop it. It was like a waterfall of words crashing out of his mouth, and once he got started, he couldn't stop.

And to his surprise, he brothers didn't interject once. Even when his voice cracked and he coughed hard into his hands and had to pause to make himself stop crying long enough to actually speak audible words, _twice,_ they still just stood there. Staring with steady eyes and listening with a patience that Mikey wasn't used to getting. All attention was on him, and thus he found it harder and harder to stop himself until he had reached the end of his story. Breathing heavily and hands still clenched way to tightly on Leo's now soaked shirt.

And then silence fell on them again. Mikey knew they were processing all the information that he had practically spit at them but he still felt a pang of guilt shoot through his heart when none of them spoke up right away. The silence was almost deafening, and was definitely something Mikey hated more than anything else. He was half expecting them to start shouting at him any second, but all he received were their creased brows staring more holes into the folds of his clothes than Mikey needed. Piercing his very core with such intensity, he didn't know how much longer he'd last.

Then, Leo spoke.

"Mikey," Leo started, and Mikey's breath hitched, waiting for Leo to begin lecturing him about how angry he was or how dumb Mikey had been, the inevitable was upon him and Mikey steeled himself ready for the fatal blow. But it never came. Instead, to his surprise, Leo rested his hand on Mikey's forehead, wiping his wet bangs out of his face so that the older boy had a clear view of Mikey's gross, bruised mess of a face. "You're freezing kiddo. You never really got a chance to warm up, huh?"

 _Wait..._

 _What?_

Without waiting for an answer from a confused Mikey, Leo put his arm around his shoulder and started walking him further into the house. His other brothers closely in tow.

"First thing's first. I want you in the shower and cleaned off as best you can. Then we can take a good look at that shiner of yours and patch up your knee and anything else that needs it. Then we can eat some dinner and get some _good_ food in you," Leo explained in his calming and gentle big brother voice that always made Mikey hang on every word. Listening closely and attentively to the instructions he was being given before Leo stopped in front of the bathroom door. He put both his hands carefully on the sides of Mikey's face, making it impossible for the blond to look anywhere _but_ his older brothers warm blue eyes. "And then we're gonna talk. OK buddy?"

Mikey nodded and before he knew it, he was under warm water, cascading over him from the shower head that soothed almost every tense muscle in the youngest boy's body.

* * *

 _ **Ok so when I was writing this, I noticed that the word count was WAY over like, 5000 words and was still going and I thought that that may have been too long for a chapter, so I decided to cut it in half. This and the next chapter are really important to me and it's what I have been working up to and firstly inspired this story, so I'm going to take a little extra time and fix all the kinks and rub it till it shines. I hope you all like it so far and thank you for putting up with this story and giving such kind reviews! It really helps motivate me to write the best that I can when I know people actually like what I write! So again, thank you all and hope you like what's next to come!**_


	7. Chapter 6 part 2

Mikey rubbed the _not-so-sore_ side of his face and was surprised to feel the wrinkled streaks carved into his fingers. That told him he had been in the shower long enough, and as much as Mikey really didn't want to leave the warmth it had provided, the lurch and loud growl of his stomach had all but convinced him.

He turned off the faucet and stepped out of the tub, reaching for his favorite towel, ( _surprise surprise, it's orange_ ), and began drying himself off. It took him a bit longer than usual. His actions were slowed by the heat and steam of the shower, as if the warmth was draining all the energy Mikey had left.

But he had been wet for too much of the day, and that was as much motivation as Mikey needed to forge ahead. Even though his action's were sluggish, as he carefully maneuvered the towel over his tender and freshly raw body, he managed to get a good majority of it dry before he noticed himself in the mirror and for the first time that day, got a real good look at himself.

Needless to say, his heart did a worthy ninja flip at the sight of his own reflection.

His eyes were bloodshot and red, one being so swollen and puffy, it made Mikey want to gag with _'ewwww, grody to the max.'_ The bruise that claimed half of his face was already a nasty shade of blue, purple and black, so dark that it almost hid Mikey's abundant amount of freckles. His lip had been split open, and made his mouth look weird no matter how much Mikey tried to smile or frown to change it's appearance.

This was what his brothers had seen. And suddenly their looks of shock and silence were all but forgiven and forgotten. How could Mikey blame them? He didn't even know how to respond to his reflective self other than, ' _you look like crap'_.

But it didn't stop there. What his brothers hadn't seen, were the now forming bruises and cuts that etched themselves along Mikey's arms and abdomen. Each one a painful reminder of where he'd been punched, kicked, grabbed, and certainly _not handled with care and kept out of reach of big, fat, block headed goons._

 _Great_. There was no way he was going to be able to hide these from his family. If his brothers weren't already going to be on his case about his black eye, they _certainly_ were going to be now that his body looked like a walking bruised plum.

He looked away from the mirror, no longer able to stomach looking at his own reflection, before his eyes fell on the pair of pajamas sitting neatly folded on top of the wicker basket next to the door. _When_ they had been placed there, Mikey didn't know, truly a testament of how out of it he was since his natural instincts didn't notice anyone coming into the bathroom. But Mikey didn't stay too shocked as he inspected the clothing and smiled.

It was his favorite and coziest pair of pajamas. An old pair of navy blue sweats ( _Leo's_ ) and a large and thick, dark green shirt, with warm sleeves that easily covered the bruises on his arms ( _Raphie's_ ).

Mikey allowed himself an awkward shaped grin as he haphazardly put on the clothes, wincing a few times as the fabric settled on his frame, before he threw the orange towel over his head and walked out of the bathroom. The cold air of the hallway felt refreshing against his heated skin as he made his way into the living room, rubbing the towel roughly against his messy curls.

Donnie was the first one to notice him as he entered the large living area that shared itself with the dinning room and kitchen. He was standing by the island, organizing an open first aid kit on the counter when he called Mikey over to him.

"Sit," Donnie ordered, tapping his hand on the top of the island.

It was a simple enough request. Mikey practically lived on top of the kitchen counter. It was his favorite place to _criss-cross-applesauce_ whenever he was looking up new recipes or playing on his phone. And, _a secret Mikey would take to his grave_ , it was the only place that Mikey could talk to his brothers and be at the same eye level as most of them. Which, believe it or not, was a _huge_ feat for the youngest and smallest Hamato brother.

It _should_ have been easy. Mikey did it like, a _bajillion_ times a day. But after the second failed attempt to jump up onto the counter, his cheeks felt hotter than usual. Not necessarily because he was too weak to pull himself on top of the island, but because the way Donnie's eyes saddened as he watched him in silence. But like before, Mikey was nothing if not stubborn, and he finally succeeded with the third jump after refusing the the wordless offer of help from Donnie. He positioned himself in front of his older brother, placing his hands in between his legs as he swung his feet, patiently waiting for Donnie to give him further instruction.

Donnie proceeded to grab a nearby stool and set it in front of Mikey, lifting his right leg and setting in on the seat before rolling up Mikey's pant leg, revealing the bloody cut from this morning's misadventure.

He opened up his first aid kit, which was noticeably bigger than a normal sized one, but Mikey knew the reason for the upgrade. Simple matter of fact, his brothers got into a lot more trouble than most _normal_ families did. Sometimes from kicking bad guy butt, sometimes from each other, but Donnie quickly caught on that a simple med box wasn't going to be enough to supply everything he needed to keep this family in check.

This was one of those cases.

"Thankfully, it's not too deep. I'm going to clean the cut area with some Neosporin, so it might sting a little," Donnie began chitchatting, like he usually did when he worked, as he spread the clear liquid over Mikey's knee. It should have stung, but it was more of a numbing feeling and Mikey guessed it was because he was already used to the pain by then. "It looks to have stopped bleeding, which is good. And no infection, which is even better, but I'm still going to put a bandage on it and wrap it in gauze. Just to make sure that any bacteria is kept out and it doesn't get any worse."

Mikey hummed in response while he continued to swing his other leg softly, half listening to Donnie's rambles, half looking around the room.

"Where's Leo and Raph?" He asked when he noticed that only Donnie and himself occupied the top floor.

Donnie didn't look up from his work. "Leo is down stairs drying out your backpack and school books and washing your clothes. Apparently the washing machine wasn't strong enough to get out some of the stains in your sweatshirt so he's doing it by hand. And Raph-."

Donnie blinked, pausing only for a moment as he searched his mind for an answer. "Raph was up here a moment ago trying to fix your skateboard, but he cursed something about bolts being on the wrong side and stormed downstairs to the garage," Donnie finished applying the large, square band aid before reaching into the first aid kit and bringing out a roll of gauze, which to Mikey's utter delight, was bright yellow with tiny blue stars on it. _Because frankly, war wounds were always more fun to show off if they were wrapped up in colorful awesomeness._

"And dad?" Mikey asked, mesmerized as he watched the yellow fabric wrap around his knee.

"Sensei is on his way home. He stopped by Murakami's to grab some dinner," Donnie lifted his head slightly and gave Mikey a grin. "Leo offered to make dinner, but dad was very adamant about making sure you ate something other than poisonous garbage."

Mikey widened his swollen eyes as best he could. "He really said that?"

"No. But judging by the irritated look Leo gave us while on the phone, he might as well have. And if that wasn't enough to stop him, Raph's threat to delete every single episode of Space Heroes if he so much as looked at the stove sure got through to him."

Apparently, his family still held a grudge against Leo from the _last_ time he attempted to cook dinner. Let's just say, they got _really_ acquainted with New York's firefighter's squad.

A laugh escaped Mikey's mouth. It was crisp and short and sounded awkward, like it was the first time he had laughed in his life, but it felt good. And he was rewarded when a grin crept up on Donnie's lips.

Immediately, though, a panicked thought entered his mind at the mention of his sensei that cut his glee short. Donnie, however, seemed to beat him to the question, already supplying an answer like the mind reader Mikey was convinced he was since he was eight years old.

"And yes," Donnie started, taping off the end of the gauze and putting it back in the first aid box. "Leo told sensei everything, in case you were wondering."

Mikey frowned hard. He had been so worried of his brothers being angry with him, he didn't even _consider_ how his father would feel. And like he had never taken the warmest shower _ever_ , Mikey felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought of how his sensei would react.

Before Mikey could give it a second thought and ask Donnie anything else, a voice caught his attention instantly as the person it belong to thudded up the stairs and into sight.

"You know, with all of the projects you're working on gear-head, you'd think it'd be easier to find some goddamn duct tape in that lab of yours," Raph huffed, only noticing Mikey's presence once he had crashed in a stool next to the one the blond's foot had been resting on.

Donnie rummaged in his first aid kit, not bothering to look at Raph as he searched through the box. "That's what you were looking for? You could have just asked. I would have told you-," Donnie's pulled out a small, pen flashlight and stood straight up, as if a sudden thought had crossed his mind. " Wait, you were in my lab?! You didn't mess it up, did you? You didn't _touch_ anything, did you?!"

Donnie's 'lab', as he so called it, was simply a sectioned off part of the garage that he had claimed as his own when they had first moved into the two story building. It was nothing more than a small room with a curtain for a door where he worked on his inventions and projects. To Donnie, though, it was his own little piece of heaven. His sanctuary, and because he treated it as such, he was completely paranoid about anyone going in there when he wasn't in case they might mess anything up or break something of his.

This paranoia _may or may not_ have been Mikey's fault. He couldn't help it. Things just tended to go _boom_ around him.

And if anyone ever asked, he was innocent of all charges and they _couldn't prove anything._

"Relax bean pole, I didn't leave it in any worse state than it already was. I swear, I don't know how a methodical brain like yours can _function_ in a chaotic mess like that," Raph answered shortly as he ignored the indignant huff from the brunette who muttered something like, ' _ **you're** a chaotic mess,' _ under his breath.

He put the broken skateboard and a roll of grey duct tape on the counter and began to work, carefully holding the board together as he started unwinding the tape around the cracked spine. Mikey stared silently as he worked and briefly met Raph's green eyes as the cropped red head gave Mikey a side glance.

" 'S just temporary, kid," Raph explained, bringing his eyes back to the deck in his hands. "It's gonna look dumpy, but it'll last ya until I can get ya a new one."

Mikey was about to interject, telling Raph that he didn't need to do that _**at** **all** because then that would make him like, the coolest brother in the history of cool things and I don't know if I'm ready to bestow that title on you just yet_ , before he was cut short by Donnie grabbing his chin. Pulling Mikey's attention away from Raph and towards Donnie's searching orbs as he stared closely at Mikey's face.

"Well, you're cheek is bruised pretty badly. And there's a few scrapes under your eye, but there doesn't seem to be any major damage to the eye itself," Donnie turned on the pen flashlight and pointed it into Mikey's swollen eyeball. "How's your vision? Any haziness or blurring?"

Mikey blinked back the wetness that was starting to take form from the bright light being shown into his pupil before shaking his head away from Donnie's grip. "Well, my eye sight _was_ fine until you ' _beam-me-up-scotty-ed'_ it with that laser of yours," Mikey blinked more rapidly for emphasis, causing Raph to let a low snicker. "Seriously, I'm fine. It looks worse than it is."

Donnie put down the flashlight, giving Mikey a pointed eye roll before going back to examining his bruised face. "It doesn't hurt to be thorough, Captain Kirk," he tried to comb Mikey's bangs out of the way, but stopped short when his hand brushed Mikey's forehead.

"Oh man, Leo was right, you're burning up. You definitely have a fever," Donnie said, taking his other hand and putting it on his own forehead to compare, a frown growing on both his and Raph's faces.

Mikey closed his eyes and leaned into Donnie's cold hands, relishing how good it felt as he spoke. " 'Mmmit's probably warm cause I just took a shower. I had the heat on high," but even as he spoke, Mikey knew that he wasn't fooling anyone. He could barely fool himself. And it certainly didn't help his case when he mumbled a slurred ' _my head is killing me,'_ without meaning too.

Mikey didn't notice his brother's exchanged worried looks, but he felt Donnie moved behind his closed eyes. While still keeping one hand on Mikey's forehead, Mikey heard the first aid kit rustle beside him as Donnie rifled through it with his other hand. A screech of stool legs told Mikey that Raph had gotten out of his seat, his footsteps leading him further into the kitchen as he heard a cupboard door open and close, the sink turn on and off, and the fridge door open.

"Grab the peas," Donnie said, which confused Mikey until he heard the fridge door close and felt Raph's presence beside him again. A glass of water was placed into his hands, causing him to open his now heavy eyes and stare blearily in front of him. Regrettably enough, Donnie took his blessedly cold hand away from Mikey's forehead and opened a Tylenol bottle he had pulled from the med box. He handed Mikey two of the small pills and nodded for Mikey to swallow them with the water.

Mikey _hated_ swallowing pills. They always felt weird going down his throat and half the time he didn't know if he was going to choke on them or throw them back up.

But he hated his painful migraine more.

And so, mustering all the courage and _suck-it-up-Mikey_ he could, he threw the pills into his mouth and downed half of the glass of water, ripping it from his lips with a loud sigh once he knew the pills had made their way into his system.

"Bleh," Mikey stuck his tongue out, repulsed. "That was grossest thing."

"You're such a baby. Out of all the grotesque gory movies and comics you've read, I can't believe swallowing a little pill makes the top of your ' _ewww'_ list," Raph shook his head, exasperated, and Mikey simply shrugged.

"It's right up there with public bathrooms and your ugly face."

"Ha. Ha. _Ha_. I'll remember you said that later," Raph growled, yanking the orange towel from around Mikey's neck and wrapped a bag of peas, _oh that's what Don meant,_ in his hands before giving it to Donnie. Donnie, after putting the headache medicine back in the first aid kit, took the half filled glass out of Mikey's hand and replaced it with the bag of peas.

"Leave that on for ten minutes. That should reduce the swelling and constrict any blood vessels from bleeding under your skin. Otherwise, it's ok," Donnie explained, leading Mikey's hand to his face until the cold vegetables settled gingerly on Mikey's cheek. The cold was soothing against his skin, and was almost as good as a replacement for his brother's hand. _Almost._ "It's going to look nasty for a few weeks, but at least you won't have to wear an eye patch anytime soon."

Mikey frowned and pouted his lips, which must have looked freaking _hilarious_ to Raph because he tried to smother a chuckle. "Awww, no fair. That would have been cool! It would have made me look even tougher than I already am."

Raph scoffed, not trying to hide the grin on his face anymore as he sat back down in the stool beside Mikey. "Dude, you're about as tough as new born kitty. Which, before you say anything, isn't that intimidating. Can you imagine what a kitten with an eye patch looks like?"

"About the coolest freaking thing this side of the galaxy, that's what," Mikey responded, turning to Donnie and with his one good eye, gave him his best set of begging puppy dog eyes.

Apparently though, you need _two_ baby blue eyes to make _that_ look work on older brothers. _Good to know._

Donnie gave him a side smile and folded his arms. "Sorry buddy, maybe next time."

"Well, it was worth a try," Mikey dismissed and was about to slip off the counter before he felt Donnie's strong hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Wait," Donnie said, turning back into _serious doctor_ Donnie once more as he stared hard at Mikey. "Take off your shirt."

Mikey blinked his one eye.

"What?" He heard Raph's voice chorus with his own. Apparently, he wasn't the only one that might have heard wrong.

"You heard me. Take your shirt off."

 _Ok,_ so he _didn't_ hear wrong. Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Geez, Don. Shouldn't you at least take a lady out to dinner first before requesting stuff like?"

The joke seemed to have bounced right off of Donnie completely because he didn't break his solid stare, his brow furrowing even more firmly.

"Mikey. Shirt. Off. Now."

"Uhh, D? Mind sharing with the class?" Raph asked, folding his arms and pursing his lips in confusion.

"Mikey. _Now_.

Mikey felt his heart speed up again with panic. He had seen what he looked liked under his green shirt, and he wasn't about to _show-and-tell_ himself and put his disgusting body on display for his brothers. _No thanks. Not gonna happen. I at least have to keep some of my dignity, right?_

"Yeeeeaaaaaah, no. I'm good. Thanks though," Mikey answered. He tried to slide off the island again, but the hand continued to stay clamped on his shoulder, as unyielding and firm and stubborn as Donnie was. _Well two can play at that game._

"That wasn't a suggestion, Mikey," Donnie answered dryly.

"Well, I'm not taking it as an order, Donnie," Mikey responded back, not breaking eye contact. It was harder to keep with just one eye, but Mikey wasn't going to let his older brother win _that_ easily. He had a reputation to keep, after all. That's what little brothers did. Make things as _hard_ as possible.

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be Mikey, just take it off," Donnie said and a terrifying thought occurred to Mikey. _Did he know? Oh, gosh. Did he figure it out?_ "Don't think I won't use force if I have to."

Mikey squinted his eye. "You wouldn't."

That was a dumb thing to say. Mikey knew better then to question it. It was Donatello after all. It was one of his protective older brother's, after all. _He totally would._

"Wouldn't what?"

All three of their heads turned at the sound of Leo's voice as he entered the kitchen, and Mikey noticed he was wearing a different shirt then the one he had previously been wearing earlier.

"Donnie's threatening me!" Mikey practically yelled, _totally not above tattle-tailing_ as he pointed a finger into the brunettes face, completely ignoring Donnie scowling at him. Mikey didn't care. He learned long ago that when it came to settling something with your brothers, the only rule about fighting dirty was to do it _only_ when sensei wasn't around. Raph was the one who came up with that rule, and Mikey wasn't afraid to use it to his advantage.

Leo raised an eyebrow towards Donnie's direction. Donnie simply sighed loudly, coming to terms with something he obviously didn't want to point at out loud.

"Leo, he's not showing me his other bruises."

Raph whipped his head back towards Mikey, his vibrant green eye's blazing him like Greek fire. "Your other bruises? How bad did those scum bags hurt you?"

Mikey winced at Raph's words as he slowly met Donnie's eyes. "How did you-."

"The second you couldn't get on top of the island," Donnie answered shortly, but his eyes softened as his shoulders eased. "Mikey please. I'm just trying to help."

"Ok, but I'm fine. Really. My black eye's the worst of it, trust-."

"Mikey," Leo said calmly, and for some reason, that was all it took. Mikey didn't listen to Leo any more than he did to Raph or Donnie. But sometimes, Leo just had this presence and voice about him that made it hard, _I mean really really hard,_ not fall victim too.

Mikey hated when he used that voice. Even more so than he hated swallowing was really saying something. Because the moment Leo used the _voice_ and matched it with a pair of solid blue eyes, _that were definitely against the rules and he should be disqualified for cheating cause those eyes had to be illegal,_ was the moment Mikey lost his battle.

Mikey frowned as he put down the makeshift ice pack, sighing as he did what he 5000 _% didn't_ want to do _._

And he wasn't surprised when all of their faces grew pale at the sight of him once his shirt was off. Raph stood up from his chair so abruptly that the stool fell to the ground with a harsh _clang_ , but otherwise, that was the only sound any of them had made. Not wanting to sit in silence again as his brothers just stared at him, Mikey broke it almost immediately.

"Alright, before you say anything, I just want to point out that it looks a lot worse than it is!" Mikey defended himself, putting the bag of peas back on his black eye. "Trust me, I just have the bad luck of bruising like a peach, is all-."

"Mikey." Leo said again, walking over to him, but Mikey was already on a hysteric roll.

"Honestly. I can't even feel most of these-."

" _Mikey_."

"So there's like, absolutely no reason for you guys to be worried and-."

" ** _Mikey_**!"

He jumped as Leo made his way right in front of him and grabbed both sides of his arm's, locking him in place as he glared angrily at Mikey. "Stop. Mikey. Just, stop." He breathed.

He let go of Mikey's arms and stepped back, not taking his eyes of him as Donnie moved in between them, inspecting the bruised arm that wasn't holding up the pea bag. He immediately set to work again, cleaning some of the bruises with disinfectant and telling Raph to go get a cold wet washcloth. Raph did as he was told, but did it with a raucous scowl on his face and muttering something angrily under his breath.

"Are you mad?" Mikey asked timidly, and all three of them didn't hesitate to respond.

"Yes."

"Of course."

"- _swear, they're gonna be breathing through tubes when I'm done with them_ -."

Mikey flinched and lowered his head, not wanting to meet any of their eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

One of them, Mikey didn't really focus on which one, asked in a confused voice. "What?"

And one little word sent him over the edge.

"I'm sorry," he said again, this time more loudly and didn't even seem surprised when his voice cracked. "For everything! I'm really really sorry! I didn't mean to make you angry! I didn't mean to make you worried. I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have tried to pick a fight with those meat heads and I know I shouldn't have gotten involved with Daniels. It's my fault my board broke and I'm sorry I'm such a stupid brother that couldn't even get some batteries and I just- things just kept happening and I- I couldn't just leave that lady by herself! I just couldn't and-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry and-!"

Mikey's voice was muffled the moment Leo put his hand over his mouth. A startled look that matched Raph's and Donnie's face was boring into Mikey as Leo stared at him. Eyes wide like flying saucers.

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down buddy, you're hyperventilating," Leo tried to soothe him in a comforting voice, and Mikey realized then that his shoulders had begun shaking again as his breathing sped up and his heart beat raced. A cold sweat running down his back. "Breathe. Just breathe."

Raph was now right beside him, washcloth all but forgotten in the sink as he laid a hand on Mikey's shoulder, steadying him. "What the heck are _you_ apologizing for? You have nothing to be sorry about."

"Buf- buf ya guys er mad-."

"Yeah, but not at you, lame brain," Raph explained, taking his hand off of Mikey's shoulder and running it through his hair. "I mean, shit dude, we're mad at you but not _mad at_ _you,_ get it?"

Mikey didn't. "Buf ta wady an ta Perple Dragens-."

"Don't get us wrong," Leo shot Raph a look before continuing. "What Raph is trying to say is, we're mad that you got hurt. We're mad, _furious_ , that those thugs got away with doing this to you and we're more than upset that you had to get involved with them. But we're not mad _at you_ , kiddo."

Leo took his hand off of Mikey's mouth and brushed Mikey's bangs away. "Actually, quite the opposite. You did the right thing and we're so proud of you. And we're glad that you're safe now and back home. But we'd never be mad at you for something like this Mikey."

"But, the milk and batteries-."

"Ok, let's get something straight here," Donnie interrupted, putting Mikey's arm down gently before addressing him. His expression every bit as serious and worried as Leo's and Raph's, but had a little more anger directed solely at Mikey. "You come first Mikey. _Always_. Leo and Raph, there's nothing more important to us than each other, and you need to understand that."

He sighed like he hadn't slept in a week, rubbing the back of his neck like he usually does when he's upset about something. But he usually only does it when one of his machines doesn't work properly.

"You really think that we'd get mad at you over something like batteries or a broken skate board? If anything worse had happened to you and I couldn't fix it-," Donnie stopped, eyes glaring hard at Mikey's bruises and not meeting his eyes no matter how much Mikey wanted him to. "Don't ever think that stuff like that is more important to us than you, Mikey. Nothing else matters if you're not safe at home. With us."

And in that moment, tears leaked from Mikey's eyes once again, letting the bag of peas drop onto the counter as he grabbed his older brothers shirt and pulled him into a hard hug.

Because he had _known_ all of that. He really did. But he had to get a few bruises and some worried looks from his brothers to remember it. It was just common sense. It was just one of the unspoken rules they lived by. It was as natural as breathing.

They drove each other _crazy_. Mikey probably the most out of any of them. They annoyed each other and chased each other up walls as tall as skyscrapers. They fought, argued, played pranks, and smacked each other on a daily basis; usually for the dumbest of reasons. They were brothers after all, it just sorta came with the territory.

And that's also exactly why they'd die for each other just as easily.

 _Literally_. Without a second thought. Which held more gravitation than the simple phrase carried. Because they were trained ninjas. Ninjas who were constantly fighting evil jerk butt at night whenever they deemed there 'hero' gear and patrolled the night's of New York city. They were regularly putting their lives on the line, fighting against threats that no normal teenagers should ever face. But they did. And they did it together.

Because when the going got tough, you better believe that Mikey and his brothers got tougher. That's always how it had been. Ever since they were homeless, orphaned kids living off the streets and even after they were adopted by their father. And that's how it was always going to be. Being there for each other through thick and thin, rain or shine, cliche metaphor after cliche metaphor, the Hamato brothers stood by each other no matter what. They were each other's whole worlds.

They were each other's only strength and only weakness.

And Mikey _wouldn't_ have had it any other way.

Donnie had seemed surprised at first by the sudden embrace, but quickly caught on that Mikey wasn't going to break no matter how hard he hugged, and he proved it by fisting the folds of Donnie's shirt and squeezing his arms as tightly as he could. Donnie returned the hug almost immediately and just as fiercely.

"I know. I'm sorry Donnie. I know," Mikey whispered into Donnie's shoulder, and barely caught the slightest of smiles etch itself on Leo's lips as he exchanged a look with Raph.

After a moment or two, Mikey didn't bother counting, they pulled apart and Mikey tried to give Donnie an encouraging, albeit cut and tear streaked, smile. Donnie chuckled and ruffled Mikey's hair fondly. Mikey then turned to his older two brothers.

"I'm sorry I made you guys worried," Mikey said and felt Donnie place the bag of peas back into his hand. Leo smiled and folded his arms.

"It wasn't your fault kiddo. Like you said, you had a bad day. A really really _really_ bad day."

Putting the ice pack back on his cheek, Mikey continued. "Yeah, but the truck thing was my fault. I'm sorry I ripped my jeans. I know you told me not to ruin them but-."

"Jean's can be replaced," Leo shrugged as he hopped onto the counter next to Mikey and draped his arm over his bare shoulder, leaning into him. "You can't."

"And sorry about forgetting my phone. That one was actually my bad," Mikey rested his head on Leo's shoulder.

"That I _am_ going to get on your case about," Leo smiled, rubbing Mikey's shoulder. "But not now. When you're feeling up to me lecturing you again."

Mikey pulled his head away long enough to give Leo a crooked smile. "What if I'm never up to you lecturing me?"

Leo laughed. "Trust me dumb dumb, the moment you start throwing water balloons again, I'll know."

"Sounds like a date," Mikey sighed happily, turning towards the last of his brothers. "And Raphie,-" he started, but Raph was already holding up a hand to stop him.

"If you're going to apologize again then I don't even want to hear it," he answered shortly, giving Mikey a punch on the arm. It still had it's usual strength behind it, but for some reason, it didn't hurt at all.

 _Probably because it was full of love_.

For the sake of not wanting another bruise added to the mix, however, he decided to keep that wonderful thought to himself.

"Like we said. It wasn't your fault at all. And I'm not getting you a new board because I have to," he then slammed himself onto the counter and squished himself against the other side of Mikey. Making the blond drop the bag of peas once more as he let out a contagious laugh when Raph started tickling him. "I'm doing it because I want to, you dope. So I don't want to hear one more word about it or I'll give you a noogie so bad, you'll go bald!"

"No, not my golden curls! They add to my cuteness!" Mikey managed to squeak out in between laughs as he tried to escape, but Leo caught a hold of his arms and trapped him between the two. Completely and totally at the mercy of Raph's poke's and prods, he had managed to spit out a ' _traitor_!' towards Leo before he burst into another fit of laughter, this time being joined by all three of his brothers.

By the time Raph and Leo were done torturing him like the _awfully wonderful_ brothers they were, Mikey was breathless and his stomach hurt when he tried to move. But the pain wasn't caused by his bruises, so Mikey didn't mind it.

What he did mind, though, was how cold he was starting to get. "Soooo, can I put my shirt back on now?" He asked.

"Only after I'm done making sure none of the bruises are too bad and need any treatment," Donnie replied, picking up the bag of peas and putting them on the counter before Mikey had the chance to open his mouth in protest. "And I know you're ' _fine_ ', but just let me check them anyway, ok? I'll rest easier that way. Are there any other bruises or cuts I should know about?"

"Well, okay," Mikey smiled. "I think there's one on my butt, if it'll really help you rest easy by looking."

"Moron," Donnie smirked, shaking his head.

"Worry wort."

The laughter that followed filled Mikey to the bone with warmth and happiness. And once his father got home, rushing through the door and dropping the food on the table so that he could wrap his large arms around his youngest boy, that warmth was only multiplied.

Mikey sat there for the rest of the night, stuffing his face and smiling so hard it hurt, as the people he loved with all his heart surrounded him. He seriously had the best family in the world and how anyone could be blind to that, he had no idea. But it was their loss and Mikey's gain.

And when he fell asleep that night, wrapped in a warm blanket in between his brothers who decided to camp out in the living room with him, Mikey had a fleeting thought as his eyes were lulled to sleep by the sound of Donnie's snoring and the comfort of his two oldest brothers pressed up against his sides.

 _I guess today wasn't so much of a bummer after all._

* * *

 ** _There you go my lovlies! 6200 words for you viewing! Thank you all so much for joining me on this heartfelt journey! I may decide to do an epilogue later, but this is the end of Mikey's bad day! Again, thank you thank you THANK YOU for reviewing, favoriting, following or even taking the time to read this out of your day! I can't believe this got such much love and attention and it's all thanks to you wonderful people!_**

 ** _There will be more to come in terms of other stories. Writing this sparked so many more idea's for short stories explaining these brother's life and I can't wait to get started on them, so look forward to those! =)_**

 ** _As always, thank you so much for all your support! And if you want me to add a little epilogue to the end of this, leave me a comment in the reviews! (p.s. it'll be in Raph's view ;D)_**


	8. Chapter 8 Epilogue

_**WARNING: Read at your own risk. This chapter contains very heavy language and a bit of violence, so if that's not your cup of tea, then I advise you to skip to the end or message me and I can give you a basic summary. If not, then please enjoy. More description at the bottom.**_

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Angry wasn't nearly a strong enough word or feeling to carry the weight that grew in the pit of his stomach. No. Raph knew anger. It was stubborn and mostly idiotic and a burning sensation that made you do dumb things because of even dumber reasons. It was irritation and exhausting and only drove you so far before you crashed and burned with regret and more rips in the problem then when you started out with.

 _No_.

 _He knew anger._

Because he wasn't angry when his baby brother came home with bruises that should _never be on a kid like Mikey's skin._ He wasn't angry when he found out that the bastards responsible were some Purple Dragon scum and some asshole who just _loved_ being on the top of Raph's murder list. He wasn't angry when said scum bag assholes made his little brother feel like _he was the one at fault and needed to apologize for it._ He wasn't even angry when later that night, he woke up to find his little brother puking his guts out and running a fever so hot, it could burn flesh. Having to stay home sick the next four days because that's just how _damaged_ the poor kid was. And not even, _not even,_ the next morning as Donnie and Leo and him drove to school, when Leo had confessed what he had found in Mikey's sweatshirt pocket, did he conclude just exactly what it was that he felt.

Because, _oh no_ , this wasn't anger.

This was pure, white hot, unadulterated murderous _rage_.

Raph had only ever felt this sort of resentment before, and after the incident _that_ caused, Raph had sworn to watch his temper from then on out. If you were one of his brothers for the past 9 years, however, then you'd might be flexible with the word 'temper' and just how well Raph was able to manage it on a daily basis. Give him a break. You've never had a _'I'm so perfect and the obvious favorite'_ older brother, an _'I'm so much smarter than you and I make it a daily mission to prove it to you'_ younger brother, and a _'I know exactly how to push your buttons and send you over the edge so I abuse this power while laughing and being the most annoying thing on the freaking planet'_ baby brother. You'd be surprised with just how easy it is to lose it and smack a head or two out of irritation.

But this. This was too far. And no amount of comfort from anyone was going to erase this painful rage so easily.

Of course, everyone was trying to manage in their own ways. Trying to heal. Trying to forget one of the biggest nightmares to happen to this family _yet_.

The first night was spent in restless sleep. They had all spent the night in the living room, sleeping on a make shift fort made of every single blanket and pillow on the property, none of them wanting to leave their baby brothers side for a second. Leo's suggestion. And Raph had never been more on-board with one of his older brother's ideas. But it was quickly cut short when Raph awoke to the sound of Mikey emptying the contents of his stomach, so violently it made Raph's heart lurch with sadness, and Leo's soothing voice doing his best to calm and comfort the littlest Hamato. It wasn't until Donnie woke up and deemed him with a fever did Raph finally think ' _screw it_ ' and stayed up with the rest of his brothers until Sensei had kicked them out of the bathroom so that they could get some shut eye before school that morning. Obviously _they didn't sleep a wink_.

That morning, Sensei canceled his classes for the dojo so that he could watch over the now bed ridden Mikey, having practically dragged him away from the toilet despite Mikey's plea to stay. ' _Just dump me in the bathtub. That'll my final resting place. Right next to the rubber turtle toy and the extreme bubble, bubble bath soap.'_

It was only after Sensei assured them all that Mikey would be fine while they were gone and the smallest of reassuring smiles appear for a split second on the blonds face did Raph and his brothers leave for school. The ride to the high school was done in almost a painful silence. All of them, no doubt, having the same horrid thoughts on their minds.

And _of course_ , Leo had to make it worse. When he told Raph and Donnie about the vandalized picture he found in Mikey's pocket, the words it had scribbled on it, Raph thought he was going to tear the ' _oh shit_ ' handle right off the car's roof. How dare they do something like this to his baby brother. _How. Dare. They._ They were going to pay. Big time. And Raph was absolutely _not_ afraid to go to jail for the kind of vengeance he was thinking of.

That entire school day was spent in a blur. He vaguely remembered Casey trying to talk to him, having most likely gotten the scoop from April who had more than likely gotten it from Donnie. He was somewhat aware of his physics lesson with Mona, her having to snap her fingers before his face every five seconds to keep his attention. She had obviously concluded that something was wrong and tried to get the information out of the red head.

But Raph wasn't in the mood to talk. He'd talk after all of this was over.

For know, he was in the mood to act. Act violently and without morals. With his fists.

The end of that first day couldn't have come soon enough, and with it being a Friday night, Raph wanted nothing more than to hang out with his youngest brother. But it quickly became clear to all the Hamoto boys that Mikey was just too sick to do anything, having to be quarantined in his room until his fever broke, which the freckled faced dork had apparently complained about all day( _despite how beaten and sick the kid was_ ) until Sensei gave him some medicine that knocked him right- _the-heck-_ out.

That night, and for the rest of the week, Raph's family became something like a dull TV show on repeat. Sensei meditated in the dojo, alone, and only came out to either eat or check up on his youngest son. Leo kept him self busy. Either doing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, or vacuuming every square inch of the _damn_ house. You'd think it was because he was some kind of neat freak who needed something to do other than train of watch some crap cartoon. But Raph knew the real reason.

Mikey hated the silence. Always had. The kid hated it when things were too quiet. Too still. Too, well, un-Mikey like. So leo did his best to do just the opposite. Being as loud as possible while he went to work, even singing loudly and _really_ off key as he went along (annoying the heck out Raph) sending a message to the sleeping Mikey that was as clear as day.

 _You're not alone. We're here. We're right outside the door._

Donnie was the only one that kept a sturdy eye on the kid, and while he wasn't aloud to stay in Mikey's room while he slept, the genius made sure to check up on him every 30 minutes. Checking his fever, making sure he had fluid in his system, making sure Mikey kept the fluid _in_ his system and didn't up-chuck it like he did with every attempt at solid food. When he wasn't playing doctor, Donnie was researching everything he could on fevers and colds, making sure he was doing his absolute best to help his little brother.

Mikey barely left his bed, and the few times Raph saw him out of his room was when a flash of blond curls would rush past him into the bathroom, puking up what little he had in his stomach that Donnie most likely forced down him. Otherwise, he kept in his room, sleeping off the injuries and sickness and fever the best he could. Not laughing. Not smiling. Not bouncing around the house with that seemingly endless energy of his and driving Raph crazy with the pranks and water balloons to the face.

And that made it all the more easier for Raph to do his part.

Because what his brothers and sensei did were great. Really, they were. They kept Mikey safe and warm and protected in the house. That was their duty.

Raph's duty, was to take that protection to the streets.

Sunday morning. Like, early Sunday morning. We're talking three AM early, Raph snuck out of the house in a large, black hoodie to protect him from the rain and with his football duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Which was pretty easy to do. He'd done it loads of times before when he was younger and from personal experience, he knew everybody would be sound and asleep by the time he came back.

Back from tracking down the bastards that hurt his baby brother, and making them feel as much pain as the poor kid did, only ten fold. Which, ergo, was a whole _freaking_ lot.

First stop, the dumb-ass that started this all.

 _Daniels_.

Raph knew exactly where to find him. Mostly because he arranged the meet up. It wasn't hard to grab one of the jerks lackies and send off the message.

 **3:30 AM.**  
 **Parking lot behind the shut down skating park.**  
 **Be there.**

That was it. No other requirements. No other demands. He could bring however many of his goons he had. He could bring any weapon, a gun for all Raph cared, it didn't matter. All that mattered was Daniels showing up in all his Jack-assiness glory.

And boy, did he not disappoint. Daniels no doubt knew that Raph was looking for a fight, so he didn't hesitate to bring the Calvary. Eight dudes in all. All wielding either baseball bats or playing around with handheld knifes. All of them considerably bigger than Raph. Few of them, Raph noticed almost instantly, were flashing tattoo's on whatever flesh they dared exposed during the heavy rain storm. Notably, Purple Dragon tattoos. Had to give it to Daniels. He knew exactly what to do to piss Raph off in all the worst ways.

Daniels, who was lazily slouching against a wall, noticed Raph first as the red head jumped the fence and walked towards them. He waited until Raph had stopped just a few feet away before he opened his stupid mouth.

"Alright Hamato, I'm here. What do you want to do?" He asked, snickering before he gave Raph the chance to answer. "Oh wait, that's right. It probably has something to do with that little sniveling brat of yours right? What was his name? Marcus? Mitchell?"

A few of the guys around him, Raph recognized them as some of the high schoolers Daniels usually had with him when fights between him and Raph would break out, grunted laughs. Feeding off the lazy support of his friends, Daniels dared to take a few steps towards Raph, showing off that disgusting smile he remembered Mikey telling him about. Raph gripped the strap of his duffle bag.

"Oh, I remember now. _Michelangelo,_ right? Stupid name, if you ask me, but I guess it fits the theme for _your_ family. A stupid name for a stupid kid," he stopped and continued to smile that sadistic smile, his words colder than the temperature outside. "Speaking of the stupid kid, how is he? My friends told me that they sadly had to end their little party early cause of some woman screaming bloody murder for some cops. Which sucks, being interrupted before they even had a chance to do some _real_ damage, but I guess they made sure to give the kid some party favors he _wont_ be forgetting any time soon."

Raph could start to feel the blood pumping in his ears. He didn't move, didn't want to give Daniels the satisfaction of seeing him react, but he felt like his heart was trying to swim through concrete. _Real damage_. Mikey had came home with so much bruising and scars that it was a miracle he didn't wind up in the emergency room. And these thugs had the intentions of doing _worse_ things to his baby brother. _Hurting_ him even worse. If Mikey hadn't been saved by that lady screaming, he could have actually ended up in the hospital. If Mikey had been left alone to those guys for even a second longer...

Raph dropped his duffle bag, letting the heavy thump be his only response as he stared at Daniels. Daniels didn't hesitate to stare back.

"Which I guess leads us to being here. So tell you what I'm going to do. Since I'm so nice, and I feel you Hamotos have learned your lesson about knowing your place, I'll give you two options." He pointed behind him, his gang starting to straighten up and size up Raph as he continued to talk. "You can apologize, for yourself and for that shitty brat of yours, for being the biggest pain in my ass since student entrance exams and from now on show some respect."

Daniels then walked back slowly, never dropping Raph's gaze as he spread out his arms, gesturing to the people at his sides.

"Or we do what we came here to do, and you end up like _that piece of orphaned trash you call a little brother._ "

In all honesty, the first part of the fight was a blur. Raph remembered seeing red. He remembered dropping to his knees and grabbing his pair of Sai from his duffle bag. He remembered charging.

He _wished_ he remembered beating the ever living shit out of everyone there. I guess that's the thing about rage, it blurs out the details of a situation and just leaves you seeing the main goal of your anger.

Pieces of it were there, fragmented memories of dodging knifes, fists colliding against faces, breaking noses and bats against backs. He didn't need to use his weapons, which he was silently thankful about. He never intended to use them in the first place, they were more for an intimidation use then for actual damage, but he'd be lying if he said that no one left the fight without a few cuts made in the scuffle. Despite how infuriated Raph was and how much he thought about it, however, he wasn't about to take a life. Especially since that wasn't point of him being there.

 _Revenge_ wasn't the reason Raph wanted to see Daniels.

Though, it _was_ a nice side benefit.

What Raph did remember, though, was breathing heavily as he stood over the moaning bodies at his feet. Some were bleeding, some were unconscious, all of them were down for the count and weren't going to get up _any time soon if they knew what was good for them._

Everyone but Daniels.

He somehow made it unscathed in the fray, standing up with his back against the wall, not really looking terrified but obviously surprised by just how little his back up actually helped him. And whether it was his pride or nerves that kept him from bolting away cowardly, Raph never found out or cared enough to wonder about it. All he cared about was that Daniels was there. Just the two of them now.

They stood there, eyeing each other as Raph caught his breath. His drunken adrenaline rush wearing off and turning into a vivid hangover. He could feel every muscle pulsing, his arms felt like a thousand pounds, weighing him down like they had just gone a hundred rounds with Joe Louis. His mouth tasted like iron and he was about 60 percent positive he remembered getting hit in the jaw sometime during the fight. He probably looked a whole lot worse than he felt, and he was sure that the pain would hit him eventually, but at that moment it was the least of his worries.

His job wasn't done yet. Pain could wait.

" ** _Daniels_** ," he growled for the first time that night, making his way towards the jerk with a determined stride. He pocketed his Sai in his back belt loops so that his hands were free, half because he _so_ needed to clench them into fists, the other half because he wanted the satisfaction of dishing out what he was about to do with his own hands. Daniels stood his ground, snapping out of his stunned stupor and puffing out his chest, ready to fight Raph head on.

Raph never gave him the chance.

Daniels sent out the first fist, watching it collide with nothing as Raph dodged it with ease and grabbed it, twisting it behind Daniels as he slammed him head first into the wall. Before the bastard could regain his senses, Raph was already grabbing him and kneeing him in the gut so hard, he was sure he sent all of the air out of Daniels system. Raph had fought with Daniels before, however, and he _knew_ that the idiot wasn't going to go down without a fight. Daniels caught himself just in time to maneuver himself out of the way of a kick, trying to send another fist Raph's way, but Raph was already on a frenzied roll. He ducked under it, watching it this time collide with the stone wall of a skating ramp behind him.

Daniels immediately recoiled back in pain, giving Raph the opportunity and the satisfaction of punching him right in the nose. Blood immediately exploded out of his nostrils, but Raph didn't notice as he grabbed Daniels arm and flipped him over his back, sending him onto his stomach with a sick _smack_. The next second, Raph was on top of him, pulling Daniels' arm painfully behind him as Raph dug his knee painfully into the high part of the jerk's back.

Don't get Raph wrong, beating the crap out of Daniels was always high on his to-do list, but it wasn't what he came there to do. Bending over lowly, practically hissing in Daniels ear, Raph talked in a tone that only Daniels could hear.

"Listen good you slimy lowlife, 'cause I'm not gonna repeat myself," he breathed, tightening his grip around Daniels, making sure the only thing the thug _could_ do was listen to him. "I'll fight you. I'll fight you any day of the week. Name a time and place and I'll show up. I don't care what your reason or excuse is. I don't care what even happens or how much backup you bring or even if you shoot me. I proved that here tonight, like I always have. I don't care what happens to me. I _will_ fight you."

Revenge was fulfilling in it's own way, but it wouldn't solve the problem. Raph could have just punched the light's out of Daniels like he did to his goons, but the message wouldn't have gotten across. It wouldn't have stuck. Raph had to make sure this _never_ happened again. Never in his life time.

"But the second you bring my _family_ into this, is where you cross the line. I don't care what beef you have with me. That beef stays between you and me. _Not_ with your shitty backup. _Not_ with the police. _Not_ _with my family_. Just you and me."

He never wanted Mikey to come home hurt ever _again_.

Because that was pain Raph would never be able to live with.

"So you don't _talk_ to my family. You don't _look_ at them, _think_ of them, _dream of touching them, sick_ your attack dogs on them like the worthless coward you are. _**Ever**. **Again**_. I don't want you or anyone of your brother's thugs anywhere _near_ my family from here on till the end of your pathetic life."

The rain never stopped poring down on them. The cold never sinking into Raph's skin. He couldn't be bothered with it right now. There was only one thing on his mind. The thing that was always on his mind.

Protecting his family.

"You ever talk to my brother again, ever tell him those things you said _again_ , I'll send you to the hospital so fast, you'll have to breathe out of tubes until the day you die. And so help me, if there _is_ a next time, I will find you. I will hunt you down and I'll make sure you skip the hospital trip. _You touch my brother again and I will. **Put. You. In. The. Ground**_."

He twisted his arm again, pulling it to almost the breaking point until Daniels whimpered in defeat, making sure he had Daniels full attention.

"Do I make myself clear? You and everyone else. _Stay away. For good. **Understand**_?"

There was a pause, and maybe it was the last of his adrenaline rush leaving his system, making him notice things more clearly as he felt like it was taking forever for a response. But finally, and very slowly, Daniels nodded his head.

Raph will never be able to tell you how or why, but he knew it was truthful. It was sincere. There was no pride in it. No false confirmation. No egotistical retort. If Daniels _had_ opened his mouth, Raph knew he would have probably felt the urge to slam the jerk's head into the concrete. But there was something in his nod that signaled defeat. It was pathetic and humbling, but Raph had done his job. He got the message through, and Daniels was hearing it loud and clear.

Raph slowly let go of Daniels arm and rose off of him, ready for any sort or retaliation, but Daniels just laid there. Still and silent and _utterly defeated_. Just the way Raph liked him.

He walked back towards his duffle bag, threw in his pair of Sai before zipping it up and throwing it over his shoulder once again. He made his way to the fence encompassing the abandoned skate park, jumping it with a little difficulty, before he trekked his way out of the downtown area and back home. Never once looking back. He didn't need to. He did his job.

It was now 4:45 in the morning, and before making it all the way home, Raph made sure to stop by a 24 hour grocery store to change clothes. He knew he looked liked hell, was sure starting to feel like it, and he had made the mistake of coming home after a fight before. More often than not, someone had noticed his presence, or lack of, and waited up for him to get home. Waiting for him at the door with a lecture and a med kit. And after the weekend his family had already gone through with one of the boys coming home bruised up, Raph wasn't about to make it any worse.

But when he looked in the bathroom mirror, he realized that was easier said than done as he glared at the sizable cut over his left eye and the bruise now forming over his jaw line. _Great. Just fucking great._

He did his best, he really did, to clean himself up as best he could. He washed all the blood off of him, some was his, some wasn't. He changed into clean, and more importantly, dry clothes. _Thank you waterproof duffle bag._ He even tried to do his hair and put deodorant on to at least make himself somewhat presentable. He wasn't quite sure who'd be up to greet him when he got home, but it was safer to take no chances. As he exited the store and pulled out an umbrella to make sure he _stayed_ dry, he just hoped it at least wasn't sensei. He could deal with Leo's lecturing and Donnie's constant sarcastic pestering, but sensei would take it a whole 'nother step farther and actually punish him. He was willing to take it, or course, he knew the risk as soon as he left the house and was ready for it to be handed to him without a second thought or rebuttal. Still, if he didn't have to deal with it, he'd just as easily take that root.

However, when he walked through the door and into the still dark house, he was surprised to see a blond head sticking out over the top of the couch. Someone he didn't suspect to see in the slightest.

"Mikey?" Raph asked quietly, and was even more surprised when he noticed the head turn his direction, bright blue eyes seeming to glow in the dark as they stared at Raph. Completely wide and awake and _not_ in bed sleeping where they should be.

"Raphie. You're back," Mikey squeaked back quietly, his voice raspy like he hadn't used it in weeks. "I was wondering where you went."

Raph quickly closed the umbrella and dropped his bag next to the door, making his way towards his youngest brother as quietly and stealthily as he could. _Easy for a ninja_. "Mikey, what are you doing up so early? You should be in bed sleeping."

"You're one to talk, mister _sneak-outta-the-house_. Besides, I'm tired of sleeping. That's all I've done this week. Sleep sleep sleep. I'm sick of it. Literally and figuratively," Mikey tried to force a laugh, but it just came out as a sheepish cough. He was wrapped up in his orange comforter, leaning the back of his head on the couch frame as he was sunk between two couch cushions. He scooted over without hesitation, however, as Raph came over and sat himself right next to him, Mikey immediately sharing his blanket with the red head.

"That doesn't mean you should be up and about though, lame brain. You're still sick. That's just what sick people have to do to get better, like it or not," Raph said, kicking off his shoes so that he could get even comfier on the couch. Mikey scooched himself closer to him.

"You sound like Donnie, just less smart sounding," Mikey grunted, his face halfway covered by his comforter.

"You're lucky you're sick because that wasn't very funny," Raph tried to joke, but Mikey didn't look up at him with the quirky grin he usually had.

"Wasn't trying to be funny," he answered simply, yawning before sinking further into the couch. "Besides, I couldn't sleep."

Raph rested his arm along the frame of the couch, letting his eyes close as he caught the contagious yawn. "Why not?"

"Too quiet." Mikey responded after a long pause, catching Raph's attention.

"Too quiet? How could it be too quiet? Doesn't Donnie check on you like, every hour? And Fearless is loud enough to wake the whole goddamn neighborhood. How is that too quiet?"

"That's exactly it though Raphie," Mikey interjected quickly, keeping the same quiet level but forcing a stubborn tone to it.

"Donnie is clock work. He comes into my room constantly and wakes me up, whether he means to or not and checks to see if I'm ok. Leo's been noisy all around the house and the dojo, so that no matter what he was doing, I knew exactly where he was. And dad makes it a point to always give me medicine and to make sure I drank and ate _something_ , before he goes off again, so I at least got to see him."

"I don't get it. That wasn't noisy enough for you? You didn't like any of that?" Raph frowned in the dark, his brain too tired to connect the dot's Mikey was leaving for him.

"No, of course not, I loved it," Mikey answered back quickly and quietly, and like usual, you could feel the words to be true. "I appreciate everything they've done. I- you know I hate it being quiet. and I hate being alone. But they never made me feel like that. I'm sorry they have to go through so much trouble because of me, but that's not the issue here. It wasn't about them being too noisy or not noisy enough."

"Well then, shit dude, what's the problem?" Raph could feel his irritation start to rise up, but he made sure never to raise his voice higher than Mikey's.

"Raph, it was you. You were too quiet."

He said it in the most silent of squeaks, but it made Raph jerk his head so violently, Mikey might as well have shouted it. The sudden movement caused Mikey to slide over and rest his head on Raph's shoulder, obviously to sick to care anymore. Raph stared down at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You were too quiet Raph. I never heard you walking around the house. Didn't hear you yell or laugh. Barely saw you. You never even made an effort to come sneak into my room. Which, for the record, hella rude," Mikey sighed, lifting his comforter up to his nose. "I got worried. I wondered what you were doing. I worried if you were mad at me or something. So I snuck out of my room the moment I heard Donnie snoring and came looking for you. Only to find that your bed was empty and your Sais were gone."

Raph could feel his his heartbeat quicken, and he hoped that Mikey wouldn't be able to notice. He was so busy trying to make sure Mikey never got hurt by those scum bags again, he didn't even think to do any of the things Mikey had mention. Didn't think to check up on him. To make sure he was ok. He was sure that protecting him from a distance was what he needed to do. He didn't think that doing that in the process, would actually hurt his little brother.

Being an older brother sucked. He could never do it right even when he tried. How the _hell_ did Leo do it and make it look so easy?

"Ahh man Mikey. I- I'm sorry buddy. That's not what I meant to do at all. I just- ahh shit bro, I'm sorry. I was just- focused on other things," Raph said, but quickly shifted so that he could place a reassuring hand on top of Mikey's mop of curls. "But trust me, Mikey, the last thing I meant to do was make you worried."

"It was too late for that when you came home looking like you lost a fight with a punching dummy," Mikey responded a little harshly, but finally looking up at Raph with those _freaking_ blue eyes. Filled with all the concern and pleading in the world. "What did you do?"

Raph paused before answering, not wanting to look away from Mikey so as to shut him down, but not about to give into what he'd been up to. "Nothing important buddy. Promise. I just had to take care of something, but it's over now. It's all over. Nothing to worry about."

Mikey didn't look the least bit convinced, giving him that dead pan stare that always seemed to be permanently plastered on the brainiacks face. The " _you really expect me to believe that load of crap? Are you serious? Do you know how high my I.Q is,_ " look that always ticked Raph off because it was really hard to lie to a face like that.

"Why did you bring your Sais then. Huh?"

Raph paused, shifting in his spot so that he was leaning towards Mikey. "I never used them."

The answer didn't seem to fully satisfy Mikey, as he turned his head and shifted his own body closer to Raph. "Did anyone get hurt? Like badly?" He practically whispered, and Raph felt his heart leap into this throat.

"No," he finally answered, leaning his head over and resting in on top of his brothers. "Ego's, maybe. But I didn't do anything stupid. Not this time."

For some reason, this got a soft chuckle out of Mikey and it made Raph smile despite the serious tension from their conversation. "Yeah right. That's not very reassuring. How'd you get that bruise on your cheek then, huh? You look like crap."

"Says the guy who literally looks like he's about to keel over any second," Raph joked, poking Mikey on the side of his cheek with the arm draped across the couch frame. "Would you believe me if I told you I fell down some steps at the gym?"

Mikey laughed, and even though it was hushed, it didn't lack any of it's warmth. "That's about the lamest excuse in the book, dude. That sounds weak. You need something more awesome, like a squad of robot ninja's stole your pizza that you were getting me."

"I'm not trying to make it sound awesome, I'm trying to make it sound believable. Which that wasn't either of them."

"You wouldn't get me a pizza, even though I'm sick?"

"I was talking about the robot ninjas, you moron."

"That's cold dude. But gimme a second then, my brain's still trying to wake up from being all bleh for the past three days. I'll come up with a great excuse for ya."

"No aliens, and I swear on every comic book I own, Mikey, if you say anything that has to do with me fighting a cat and losing, I'm gonna wake up Donnie and have him march your butt back to your room."

Mikey feigned horror, but smiled anyway as he snug in closer to Raph. "Fine. But now it's going to take me a little longer to come up with something with half of my artillery gone."

Raph closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "I'll give ya all morning. I'm not going anywhere."

They talked for a little while longer, before finally falling asleep again. Donnie found them on the couch when he realized that his patient has escaped, but didn't bother to wake them up as he simply grabbed his own blanket and joined them. Leo eventually woke up as well, but instead of going back to sleep, he just made a cup of coffee and smiled from his spot on the couch when their father finally entered into the kitchen for his morning tea.

The house stayed silent well into the morning, but it was a comforting silence. A calming silence. A peaceful silence.

And none of them ever noticed the rain finally stop.

* * *

 _ **THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO WAS SO PATIENT AND ACCEPTING OF THIS CHAPTER AND WILLING TO WAIT FOR IT! I HAD BEEN WANTING TO WRITE THIS FOR THE LONGEST TIME, BUT I COULD NEVER GET PASSED THE FIRST COUPLE PARAGRAPHS. I FINALLY GOT IT DONE THOUGH, AND I'M SO THANKFUL FOR THE WARM AND SWEET RESPONSE I'VE GOTTEN FROM THIS FIC! YOU'RE ALL SO GREAT AND YOU MAKE ME KEEP WANTING TO WRITE MORE. SO I WILL, AND I HOPE YOU GREET THOSE FICS WITH AS MUCH WARMTH AS YOU'VE SHOWN THIS ONE.**_

 ** _I WILL ALSO BE WORKING ON SOME OTHER FANFICTION AS WELL, BUT I'LL TRY TO SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS I CAN WITH THE NEXT ONE, I HAVE PLANNED, SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THAT ONE. ALSO, THE FINAL DECISION HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL I CAN GET A SOLID WRITE UP FOR WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH IT, BECAUSE THAT FIC IS REALLY SPECIAL TO ME AND I WANT TO DEDICATE AS MUCH HEART AND LONE INTO IT AS I CAN._**

 ** _ANYWAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH DARLINGS! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! LOVE YOU LOTS! SEE YOU SOON! =D_**


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